My Sun, My Moon, My Sky
by socialpixie555
Summary: Mother Earth has four sons that each represents a season and plan out that season by the second. Ashton's is summer and he meets Sophie on the first day of his season. A summer romance ensues.
1. Chapter 1

__January 1__ _ _st__

 _ _Mother Earth beamed down at the four young men before with such pride. Each grew into their season perfectly and now, they were all wise enough to look over their season on their own, without any aid from her.__

 _"_ _ _My sons," she addressed the men before her, "For many years, I have watched over the Earth. I made sure the sun shined when it was supposed to. The leaves darkened and fell from their branches from my command. I covered the land with snow and ice and chilled the Earth. And when it was time, the snowflakes turned into flower buds and brought warmth back to the planet."__

 _ _Mother Earth stood up from her throne, which was formed from clouds, just like everything around them were. She stood before her four sons with a fond smile laced on her lips, "Many years ago, I knew that I could no longer watch over the four seasons of the Earth, as well as the animals and the plants," she grinned at her sons, "Plus, I wanted a family of my own. I've seen humans on planet Earth reproducing and creating new life and I wanted that too. So I turned to the most beautiful things in nature and used to them along with my powers to make four sons that would each control one season."__

 _ _The Mother stood before her sons, dressed in an embroidered robe laced in emerald and sapphire details, "Over the years I have raised you all. When you were old enough, you watched me prepared each season. I taught you how to bring in your seasons and manage the weather. You've learned how to call for rain and snow. You know how bring on the cold and the warm. You know Earth's patterns and where the sun will touch the planet at every moment.__

 _"_ _ _Now," Mother Earth grinned, "I am confident that you are now all old enough to manage your season on your own without my supervision," she moved towards her son, who was wearying a silvery formal robe.__

 _" _Michael," she sighed out his name and pat his shoulder, "I made you out of a small pile of the first snowfall. You have been in full charge of Winter for the past two years and I couldn't be prouder of your accomplishments. I know it's not the easiest season to oversee but you have done your season honor Michael. This current winter is going well so far and I have no doubt you continue to do so."__

 _ _Michael's bright blue eyes shimmer at the compliment. His constant aura glowed a baby blue all around him, reflecting his season true. Soon all her sons would have their own colored auras surrounding them. Mother Earth moved to her next son.__

 _" _Luke," she beamed as she took his hands, "My precious Luke, made from the first cherry blossom to bloom the year you were made. You are a pure mixture of joy and youthfulness. You embody Earthly springs perfectly and I trust you will bring humans a perfect spring this year."__

 _ _With that, their joint hands glowed. She passed on her oversight of Spring to Luke and the young man looked wiser somehow. He proudly stood before, looking oddly serious in his green robe, dawned with white and pink flowers. He's aurora glowed a bright sage green and the other two sons gasped. Their colored aura would come soon enough.__

 _ _Next, Mother Earth stopped in front of a man who looked rather serious with darker features heightened by his deep maroon robe. The Mother laughed.__

 _"_ _ _Ah, my Calum," she shook her head and took his hands, "so hard to understand at times. You're quite serious, but sweet and good natured too. I made you from the first fallen maple leaf in the fall and since then, you've become the embodiment of Autumn. It's not easy making the Earth cooler and getting the trees ready for their Winter sleep. But you are ready for the task, my son. I know you'll bring a perfect Fall under your control."__

 _ _Mother Earth tightened her grip on Calum's hands and the aura that surrounded his body was a deep, nearly purple red.__

 _ _Lastly, Mother Earth came upon her last son. She saved her brightest smile for him.__

 _" _My lovely Ashton," she beamed at him. Ashton flushed nervously and took hold of his mother's hands, "My sweet, sweet Ashton. When I took the brightest ray the sun had on the first day of summer many years ago, I knew it was special, and it would make me a special boy. Your bright, playful spirit is contagious and captivating. You are summer, in every sense of the season. And I trust all the many summers to come in your hands."__

 _ _With that, Mother Earth closed her eyes and focused. A shuddery breath escaped Ashton as incredible heat overtook his body. Flashes of lush green vegetation and blindly bright light filled his senses. He could hear human laughter and the pleasant sound made Ashton smile.__

 _ _When Mother Earth stepped back, she looked proudly at her eldest son, a golden light surrounded him.__

 _ _In a few months time, Ashton would control his first summer on his own. And Ashton couldn't wait to see what was in store.__

June 20th

When Ashton transports for the first time without Mother Earth, he lands on a patch of grass. But looking around him, he notices that this is not a meadow or a wooded area. There are tons of human people everywhere and tall, monster like things that Ashton is pretty sure are buildings. Ashton's never been in a building before, and wonders what exactly is inside a building.

Ashton's only been on Earth a handful of time and each time it was with his mother. Mother Earth knows everything there is know about Earth so he's never felt so lost before.

But Ashton just wanted to see the start of summer first hand.

Ashton's been planning his first proper summer for ages now. He knows what days will be the warmest. He knows when the sun will rise and set each day. Mother's stars, he even knows how many thunderstorms are set to happen in the eastern hemisphere. Ashton knows what summer is, but this is his first chance truly experiencing it first hand on his own.

Mother Earth wouldn't let Ashton go with her often when he was younger, saying something about how him and his brothers couldn't last long on Earth because it'll drain them. But Ashton figures that he's older now, everything should be fine.

Ashton looks down at his humanly form. He frowns when he's not met with the familiar glowing aura he's come to love so deeply. He's not wearing his fancy garments, but rather a simple black shirt and rough denim jeans, and that's the only human clothing Ashton knows about. He doesn't like the clothes, but it's what he must wear in order to fit in. Ashton suspects that his human form still has emerald eyes and long brown waves like Ashton normally has back home.

Ashton wonders if he still has his powers…

Looking up at the sky, Ashton sees a cloud passing over the sun. And that just cannot be! It's the first day of summer! And yes, Ashton loves clouds-he __lives__ in the clouds for goodness sake!-but the clouds can sometimes make the sun go away. And Ashton doesn't like that one bit! He himself is made out of a bit of the sun so of course he loves the sun! What's a first day of summer without a bright, blaring sun?

So Ashton trains his gaze on the cloud protruding the sun's space. He focuses and silently commands the cloud to move. A second later, the cloud darts over the sun, making the Earth shine at it's brightest once more. Ashton relaxes and sighs as the wonderful heat takes over him.

Ashton decides to venture out and discover his surroundings. He walks out onto a street and notices how many humans are walking around him. Ashton feels incredibly out of place, with the tall buildings and the people and the weird looking things on wheels moving in the road. It's loud too, much louder then it his back home and already, he feels himself becoming dizzy and faint.

 _ _So this is what Mother means about Earth being draining for them?__ Ashton thinks.

Just then, a human bumps into him, sending Ashton to stumble back a couple of steps. Ashton gasps in shock.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ashton looks at the human and-well, it's a girl.

She's rather pretty, Ashton notices. She's got a nice, petite face and a sheepish grin on her lips. Her eyes, Ashton thinks, are like the same color as tree bark and they dazzle in the sunlight. The girl reaches out and takes hold of Ashton's shoulder to steady her and. Ashton's used to the heat and the sun and he swears that the girl's touch burns his skin and makes his heart do some strange flipping thing in his chest.

Ashton feels utterly lost but looking at this beautiful girl, he feels better about being lost.

"Are you okay?" the girl asks, seeming to genuinely care about Ashton. Which…Ashton can't seem to know how to feel about this. He suddenly feels hotter, but not in familiar way. He feels…light, incredibly light, because there is a dreamy looking girl giving her attention to Ashton.

"I, um-" Ashton stutters, and then giggles weakly, "I, yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

The man smiles happily, "Good, I'd hate it if I hurt a fit guy like you."

The blush that burns Ashton's cheeks is uncontrollable.

"Thank you," Ashton flushes, his voice incredibly shy. The girl chuckles and boldly takes Ashton's hand.

"Trust me," he says with a coy look in her eye, "the pleasure is all mine."

Ashton giggles happily and the girl seems to like that.

Some strange noise trills through the space between them and the girl rolls her eyes and huffs as she lets go of Ashton's hand. Ashton can't help but be disappointed in this. The girl fishes her pockets until she pulls out something that has Ashton frowning. He's never seen it before, whatever is in the girl's hand. It's glowing, whatever is in the girl's hand, and Ashton's eyes widen at it.

"Sorry, I have to go," the girl says then quickly states, "See ya around." She leaves Ashton, briskly, and keeps looking back at Ashton until she eventually presses the strange object to her ear and talks into it as she walks away.

Ashton's left flustered in the middle of a busy street. Part of him wants to follow the girl, for some odd reason, but he doesn't. He stays there for a bit, lost in the brief memories of the girl. He grins and spins around and starts to walk in the opposite direction.

His memories of the stranger will do just fine for now.

Ashton looks around the city as he strolls happily. The tall, intimidating buildings change into rows of charming looking houses and small stores. There are flowers of every color decorated nearly every way Ashton looks and the trees curl over the streets to prove some shade. He thinks that Luke should be here too. Wherever Ashton is, he quite likes it a lot.

After a while, Ashton starts to feel faint once more. He blinks and there are black spots and he feels dizzy. He knows he's draining and Ashton needs to get back home fast. Ashton moves quickly behind a lone building. Behind it, there's no one in sight and Ashton sighs in relief. He crosses his arms over his chest, closes his eyes, and thinks about summer-y thoughts, just like Mother Earth taught him.

Ashton feels his body moving rapidly and within a second, Ashton is back home.

When he opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is Mother floating between clouds. She's stunning, as always, in one of her bright white robes and actual ivy vines twisting around her arms. Ashton smiles as he rushes towards her and Mother Earth accepts him with open arms.

"Easy Ashton," she chuckles fondly as she hugs him. She pulls back, keeping her hands on his shoulders and looking fondly at him, "How was it Ashton?"

"AMAZING!" Ashton beams, his happiness uncontainable, "It was-like-it's so pretty Mother! So hot and sunny!"

The Mother chuckles, "You make it sound like Earth is better then here." Ashton's eyes widen.

"Never, Mother!" Ashton gasps, "Besides, humans are so strange. They talk into rectangles."

The frowns, tilting her head a bit before letting out a delighted laugh.

"Oh honey," she sighs, "Those are called cell phones. It's how humans communicate with each other."

Now Ashton's the one frowning, "But…why don't humans just talk to each other face to face?"

"Ah Ashton," the Mother sighs, grinning, "you have so much to learn still. But I'm glad you had a good day."

Ashton nods to himself before asking, "Yes, but um. Where was I? On Earth I mean, where was I?"

"How should I know?" The Mother says unconvincingly. Ashton playfully cocks an eyebrow at her, looking smart-alecky. The Mother rolls her eyes, "Okay fine. Yes I kept an eye on you today on the Vision Cloud. But that's because it was your first day out on your own Ashton."

Ashton smirks, "I knew you would do that Mother, and I'm okay with that." The Mother smiles dopily down at her son.

"Sheffield."

Ashton blinks, "What?"

"You were in a city called Sheffield, Ashton. It's in a place called Yorkshire in England, you remember?" Ashton furrows his eyebrows and nods.

"Those are pretty names…" he notes in awe and the Mother laughs.

"Yes they are love. Now why don't you rest up a bit, hm? You must be so drained." Ashton nods and Mother Earth pecks him on the head, "Alright love, you better go to your dome now."

Ashton moves through his dwelling with ease. Ashton loves living literally in the clouds as it leaves the dwelling white and just oh so pretty! Ashton loves how soft the clouds we to touch and on any other day, Ashton would chase wisps of clouds around. But Ashton's exhausted and so he goes straight to where the domes are, his smile never fading.

Ashton's dome is the last one in the row of domes. His brothers have their own domes too, all of which are catered to their seasonal needs. Michael' has icicles hanging down the top of his down, with hills upon hills of fluffy, white endless snow. Calum's dome is littered in colorful, nearly dead leaves with a gloomy grey sky. Luke's dome is practically has an entire meadow squished inside of it, and normally the flowers are gorgeously bloomed and colorful. But today, Luke's dome looks lifeless. The flowers are wilting and there's a light drizzle inside the dome. Ashton frowns at this and takes a look over at his dome. His dome looks ever so inviting, with a blazing sun cast over a lusciously green feel and a clear blue sky but…

Ashton goes straight to Luke's dome.

"Ashton?" Luke mumbles out from his spot, curled in on himself in the middle of drooping flowers. Ashton stands over his brother, who frowns up at him, "What are you back so soon?"

Ashton sighs as he sits down in the grassy meadow next to Luke. Luke's dome is not hot to Ashton's liking. But the flowers, when in full bloom, are a true vision. Ashton's never been in Michael or Calum's domes; just even looking at their domes spikes Ashton's anxiety. But Luke's is quite lovely and despite the lack of heat, Luke needs Ashton right now, Ashton just knows he does.

"I've been gone all day," Ashton tells him.

Luke looks surprised, but only says, "Oh." Ashton leans down and kisses his brother's forehead.

"Come now, Luke! You know that spring doesn't last forever!" Luke pouts.

"Easy for you to say!" Luke retorts. He heaves a great breath as he sits up, "it's the first day of summer for you! You've got three months to watch over your season!"

Ashton can't help but grin happily at that, "Yeah but. I know summer's gonna end. And then Calum will take over to manage Earth's autumn," he shrugs, "it's how it works, Luke."

Luke grins almost wickedly, "You won't be saying or feeling that way when summer draws to a close."

"Yes I will," Ashton says adamantly. Luke glares at him knowingly, " _ _I will__."

"If you say so," Luke says coyly, "So how was it? First day of summer and all?"

Ashton brightens up at that, "Oh Luke it was wonderful! I transported to some charming place called Sheffield! It was so pretty there Luke! It was super sunny and warm and the flowers-Luke the flowers were gorgeous! Mother did a wonderful job with the flowers this year! You must come with me next time to see the flowers!" Luke gasps at the last statement.

"Ashton!" he says, flabbergasted, "You know I can't come with you! Not when it's summer!"

Ah yes. Ashton momentarily forgot the number one rule: none of the boys can go to Earth if it's not their season. Being on Earth and amongst the humans is already draining, even if the sons are there in their season. If one of the boys were to go on Earth in a season that is not theirs, they can be drained too quickly and the results could be "devastating", according to mother. Only Mother can go on Earth any time of the year.

Ashton swallows and nods stiffly, "Of course, right. I'm sorry, Luke! I just got so caught up in the summer and I forgot." Luke sniffs.

"It's okay," he mumbles and shutters, "Just the thought of being in summer makes me faint. I mean, I can stand being in your dome for a bit but like- _ _actually__ experiencing summer?" Luke adamantly shakes his head, "I can't stand that idea."

"Hey," Ashton whines, "I __am__ summer! If you don't like my season then you don't like me!"

Luke laughs heartily, "I'm kidding-I love ya, Ash! You always make me smile."

And just like that, the wilting flowers become revived at Luke's smile. Bursts of bright pink and yellows pop up from the meadow, filling the dome with its normal floral scent. The clouds dash way and a sun is revealed with cooled warmth to it. Ashton beams at the changes.

By the time evening comes, Ashton finds himself in back in his dome. In his element, Ashton's dome is muggy and humid and he loves it. The sky in his dome is clear and full of stars. He smiles up at the stars from his floating cloud bed hovering up in his dome.

Ashton drifts off to sleep and dreams of the human man he met in Sheffield, whose skin was golden like the Sun's rays.

June 23rd

The thing is Ashton can't get the pretty girl from Sheffield out of his mind.

He goes to different places on Earth for two reasons: one, to see how the young summer is coming along in different places and two, to get his thoughts off of the girl. Ashton ends up in Mexico, Rome and some place in America called Portland. And while Ashton enjoyed all these cities, his thoughts never strayed from Sheffield and the girl that lives there.

And that's where Ashton finds himself now. The weather is lovely, a bit cool but the sun is shining again and the tamed heat lightly sizzles on Ashton's skin. He sighs and takes in the sent of magnolias as he strolls down on busy road. He's back in the part of the city where the buildings and shops are colorful and cheery and it brings a smile to his face.

Ashton doesn't really know what to do. He thinks he should go back to the where he ran into the beautiful girl…but he doesn't remember how to get there. He wants to ask a human for help but everyone who walks past him seems too busy to help, which Ashton finds rather rude. He huffs, part of him wanting to give up all hope of giving up on the girl. Ashton finds a lone bench that is cocooned by drooping willow tree branches. It's a lovely spot, close enough to the shops and yet secluded. The only thing that Ashton doesn't like about this spot is the fact that's heavily shaded, which makes it not as warm. But Ashton's feet are achy and tired. He's not used to walking so much on hard ground.

Ashton sighs gloomily and gives up all hope when a random dog sits in front of him. Ashton stares, perplexed, at the large black dog. Ashton's seen dogs before on his other Earthly trips, but he's never seen one quite as large as this one! Ashton thinks he should be frightened but he's not, simply because it's not in his nature to be fearful of animals. Besides, the dog is panting in front of Ashton, his tongue hanging out and his lips curled in smile. Ashton grins, and loves the fact that animals always seem to know that Ashton is on their side. Being Mother Earth's son seems to be universally known in the animal kingdom which means that all animals trust Mother Earth and her sons.

Ashton's hand reaches out and pets the large dog on his head. The dog tilts his head up into Ashton's hand and his course fur tickles Ashton's palm. He laughs freely.

"Ah," a voice pops out of nowhere, seemingly labored. Ashton glances over and-it's his girl! Well, not actually Ashton's girl because she's not Ashton's girl, of course. But still Ashton's heart picks up as the girl approaches him. She's not wearing a fancy outfit this time, but rather a simple floral dress. The girl smirks down at Ashton and winks before turning to the dog. She places her hand on the dog, just centimeters away from Ashton's own fingers. Ashton suddenly feels unbearably hot under his collar.

"Watson," the girl scolds the large dog. Ashton laughs at the mammal looking clueless up at the girl. The girl looks over to Ashton and smirks wickedly, "Are you bugging the handsome man here?"

Ashton's heart skips a beat as the girl sits beside him on the bench, "You remember me?" Ashton states dumbly and the girl laughs heartily at that.

"Of course, could never forget a pretty face," she says smoothly, a lazily grin taking over her lips. She places her hand out to Ashton, who eyes it suspiciously, "I'm Sophie. Sophie Pashley."

So Ashton now has a name for the beautiful human. Sophie. Sophie Pashley. Ashton thinks a wonderful name. His focus goes back to Sophie's hand and he takes it unsurely. It's a bit strange, holding someone's hand. But Sophie's grip tightens on Ashton's and he shakes it. Ashton's still not sure what to think of all this but it is nice to have Sophie holding his hand.

"So," Sophie says, her eyes playful, "do I get to know your name or…" Ashton chuckles sheepishly because how rude of him!

"I'm Ashton."

A lovely smile blooms from Sophie's lips, "Ashton, eh? Do you have a last name?"

Oh…Ashton only has one name. He looks around him and searches for options. He finds it in a small store front that says on a sign the shop has great…

"Irwin!" Ashton blurts out too enthusiastically. Sophie cocks an eye at him.

"Ashton Irwin?" Sophie says and Ashton nods quickly. Sophie scoffs lightly, "what are you then-some sort of celebrity?"

Ashton frowns, "Uh?"

"With a name like that you must be famous," Sophie leans back on the bench and studies Ashton. Ashton flushes madly under her stare. Watson the large dog plops his head down on Sophie's thigh and Sophie pets him gingerly. It's a sweet scene and touches Ashton deeply. Sophie's voice demands his attention, "I reckon you're a musician of some sort-perhaps Indie?"

Ashton's terribly lost, but refuses to show it, "I'm not a musician."

"Well then. What do you do? Just what are you exactly, not so infamous Ashton Irwin?" Ashton giggles and for a second he flirts with the idea of actually telling Sophie the truth. He knows he can't, because Sophie wouldn't believe him and she'd probably think Ashton is crazy and she'd never want to see Ashton ever again.

"I'm…" Ashton ponders, "I'm, uh, figuring all that out." Sophie smirks at that.

"Aren't we all?" she reasons. Ashton shrugs, a dopy smile laced on his lips.

"I guess so, yeah," tries to act like Sophie's acting. She appears casual and at ease so Ashton tries to mimic that. But he's have difficulty doing so as he's rather nervous, "What do you do?"

Sophie smirks and muses, "Boring stuff." Ashton shakes his head.

"That's not a real answer!" he states and Sophie chuckles.

"It's true!" She insists.

Ashton shrugs, "I don't care-I'd like to know."

So Ashton listens as Sophie goes on about her job. It sounds very different from Ashton job to manage the Earthly summers. Sophie explains that she buys land and sells it for higher profits, whatever that means. Ashton doesn't quite understand it all. How can one buy land? Isn't all land technically Mother's Earth? Ashton's lost but he hopes he at least looks like he's following Sophie. Sophie goes on to explain that she also likes to hike, workout, dancing and go sailing on her yacht…Ashton makes a note to look up all these things when he gets back to his dwelling.

"So," Sophie sighs after talking for ages. She looks over at Ashton a sweet glint in her eye, "Tell me about yourself, Ashton Irwin."

"Oh," Ashton breathes out, his mind panicking, "Well, um. There's not a lot for me to tell really."

Sophie laughs, "Oh c'mon! I won't let you get away so easily. Can you at least tell me if you're from around here?" Immediately Ashton shakes his head and Sophie sighs knowingly, "Ah, so you're new to Sheffield, hm?"

"Yeah," Ashton breathes out.

Sophie nods, looking a bit unsure, "Do you mind me asking just where you're originally from?"

"Uh," Ashton stutters out and searches his mind for answers, "I'm from…up North," he answers cheekily and Sophie's eyes perk with interest.

"We are up North, though!"

"Ah," Ashton breathes out, having no idea where Sheffield is, "Cool."

Sophie nods to herself, "Right, so. You're new here. Where do you live?" Ashton panics.

"I um…haven't figured that out either…" Sophie's eyes widen.

"So you just moved here without finding a place to live first?" Ashton nods sheepishly. Sophie shakes her head, her gaze kind and amusing, "That must be why you're wearing the same clothes you did a few days ago."

Ashton flushes madly and his eyes dart downward, "Yeah…" he mumbles out, voice small.

A gentle hand rests on Ashton's thigh. Ashton's skin squirms happily from the touch, "Hey Ashton. It's okay, I'm not one to judge. You must've really needed to leave your old life behind. I get that, and I just-I want to help." Ashton picks his head up and-Sophie's eyes are sincere and kind. Ashton gulps thickly and us unsure how to feel about all this.

"Sophie-I can't let you," Ashton shakes his head, "you don't have to do anything for me."

Sophie's hand squeezes Ashton's thigh, "But I want to help you Ashton." Ashton can't help the questioning gaze from his eyes.

"But why? You don't know me." Sophie smirks.

"Well if Watson like you, you must be good. Watson hates everyone, including me."

Ashton's glad for the joke because it breaks the tension. He laughs cutely, "That's not true. Watson loves you."

"How can you tell?" Sophie ponders. Ashton holds back his initial response that he can read animals thoughts because even though yes he can, Sophie can't know. So Ashton shrugs easily.

"I just do."

Sophie smirks, "Watson ran away from me! I told him to stay and he didn't listen." Ashton grins.

"Well," Ashton muses, "It's a good thing he did, yeah? He brought us together again."

Sophie's eyes are soft and on Ashton as if he was a meadow full of all sorts of beautiful flowers, "Yeah, this is a good thing. A very good thing."

Ashton's blushing, and he knows it's not from the summer heat. Sophie stands up, taking hold of Watson's leash. She starts walking away wordlessly and Ashton's heart sinks. __So this is it?__ He wonders. But after a couple of steps, Sophie turns around and eyes him closely.

"Aren't you coming?" Sophie asks and Ashton's on his feet before asking any questions.

They walk for a bit and Ashton takes in the surroundings. The tall, grey buildings still look intimidating but Sophie's there, so he's not too scared. The sidewalks are bustling with people so Ashton just has to stick close to Sophie's side and Sophie doesn't seem to mind and Ashton certainly isn't complaining.

Sophie takes him to a building. There's some weird device that Sophie pokes different buttons at and the door opens. Ashton follows Sophie inside and walks closely behind Watson. They walk into some sort of box thingy that closes once they're all inside and Sophie's pushing another button. The box moves upward and Ashton gasps loudly and holds onto the walls. Sophie looks back at him and chuckles and Ashton doesn't understand how Sophie can be so relaxed right now! It's like Ashton's transporting but he's confined to a box. They're moving in a box!

Ashton doesn't understand humans one bit.

The box stops and the doors open up once more and Sophie steps out into a large space. Ashton follows her timidly and is blown away by his surroundings. It seems to be a dwelling of some sort-a human dwelling as it were. It looks…clean and everything is white and it reminds Ashton of being back home. There's another man in the middle of the room, talking into his rectangle, or cell phone as Ashton recalls. The man pockets his cell phone and smiles at Sophie.

"Sophie!" the man yells out and pulls her into a big hug. So humans hug too? Ashton hugs his Mother and Luke, sometimes Michael even (but not Calum. Calum's weird and doesn't like anything hugging him). But Ashton didn't know that humans hug each other. Hm, maybe humans aren't so different then what Ashton thought?

Sophie pulls back and hits her friend on the shoulder, "Andy, what did I tell you about working on the weekends? Don't you have a date tonight with Cassandra?"

"Hey," the man, Andy apparently, cries out, "I was just about to leave when you texted me."

And, texted? Ashton frowns deeply and thinks that yeah, humans are vastly different from him.

"So who's this guy?" Andy asks, looking over at Ashton. Ashton shrivels under his stare but Sophie proudly puts her arm around him, like they've known each other for years. Ashton blushes.

"Andy, this is Ashton-Ashton Irwin," Sophie tells him and Andy reaches out his arm to Ashton.

"Nice to meet you, Ashton Irwin," he says and unsurely, Ashton takes his hand and lets the man shake it. Is this a normal human custom? Ashton needs to study more on human behavior when he gets back home.

"He's the reason why I'm here," Sophie tells him and much to Ashton's dismay, she disconnects herself from Ashton's side, "You've been trying to sell this apartment for a long time and I think I've found a solution to your problem."

Andy looks over to Ashton with unbelieving eyes, "You're telling me he has a stellar credit score and can afford a $1,200 rent?"

And…what? Credit scores and rent? Ashton has a headache now.

"Well no, he doesn't," Sophie admits and then grins, "But I do."

Ashton turns to Sophie, his eyes wide, "Sophie, I –no. I can't let you do this!" Ashton wants to tell him that he already has a home and this is all unnecessary. But Sophie ignores him.

"Sophie…" Andy breathes out, sounding just unconvinced.

"Look, Ashton's having a difficult time. He's just-he left his old life behind and I don't know why he did but I suspect it's for a good reason," Sophie explains and Ashton just shakes his head, stunned, "He's in a bit of a rough patch. He's got no home, no other clothes, and no body in his corner. I just-he just needs a place to stay and you've been trying to sell this place for three months now. I can take on another rent, you know I can."

"Sophie, no," Ashton mumbles and steps backwards, ready to bolt and transport back to the clouds.

But Sophie catches his hand, "Ashton, honestly, it's nothing. You need some place to stay, and Andy needs to sell this apartment. This solves everyone's problems."

"But-" Ashton starts but Sophie's finger to his lips stops him.

"You will take the apartment and I'm paying for it-end of story," Sophie insists. Ashton bites his lip and lowers his head in surrender, "Good, so. Andy, do you have that contract?"

Ashton sneaks a glance over to Andy who is waving his hand in the air, "I'll send you the paperwork on Monday. I gotta date I need to get ready for," Andy turns to Ashton with a tight smile on his lips, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Ashton."

"Likewise," Ashton says sweetly, but Andy just walks towards to elevator and doesn't say anything in return. Ashton frowns deeply and thinks that was rather harsh. Sophie looks a bit confused as well but she puts on a large smile once she notices Ashton staring at him.

"Would you like a tour?" she suggests and Ashton reluctantly agrees.

Sophie shows him around the "apartment" (Ashton needs to find out just what exactly an apartment is). Overall, Ashton likes the abode. Sophie shows him something called the kitchen and the living area. That really baffles Ashton-a living area? That seems like a strange title for a room. Just what does one even do in a "living" room? Ashton is perplexed indeed.

Sophie leads him to a bedroom and Ashton's saddened that he doesn't see a cloud-bed in the room like he has in his dome. There's a room called a bathroom and Ashton is scared of the things he finds there. Sophie takes Ashton to a nearly empty room and Sophie tells him it'd be great for an office, whatever that is.

"Well," Sophie says when they're back in the "living" room. She looks at Ashton kindly, "Think you can live here?"

Nodding, Ashton stutters, "I, uh. Yeah, it's great. I just-I can't believe this is happening."

Sophie grins happily, "Good. I just-" she pauses, her gaze soft, "I know we just me and like-this is a lot to process but. I couldn't just let you live off the streets, Ashton. I can afford it, I promise you I can. I'm very blessed and you need help and I can give that to you," Sophie just smiles kindly at Ashton, "so please, just take it."

Ashton furrows his brow. From his understanding, Ashton thought that humans were not so nice to each other. So Ashton doesn't really understand why Sophie would give him an Earthly home to live when they hardly know each other. But Sophie seems pretty sure in her actions and despite his many attempts to make her not do this, Sophie won't back down on this, Ashton knows she won't. So Ashton swallows thickly and nods his head.

"O-Okay," Ashton mutters weakly. But it cheers Sophie's spirits up. She grins happily and Ashton quickly adds, "But I won't let you do this forever. That's too kind and I won't let you do that."

Sophie nods agreeing, "Sounds fair-just until you get back on your feet," And Ashton has no idea what that means but he just nods along.

"Thanks Sophie."

"Oh no," Sophie shakes her head, making Ashton frown, "don't thank me yet. On Monday morning I expect you to come to my office. We'll go out and get you some new clothes."

Ashton's eyes bug out, "Wha-?"

"Now before you gripe and insist that it's too much," Sophie cuts him off, "I want to get you new clothes so that you can start looking for jobs. You have to look presentable or they'll look the other way."

Ashton frowns, "That's a strange thing to say."

"My dad used to say it all the time," Sophie's smile drops a little bit and Ashton feels conflicted. He decides not to question her so Sophie goes on, "So I just want to get a few things to make you look good for job interviews. I mean you're quite the looker now, but with the right clothes will make them hire you on the spot." Sophie winks at Ashton, causing him to blush.

"That really is too much," Ashton insists but Sophie's not having it. She reaches in her pocket and hands Ashton a something. Ashton takes it, and frowns down at it. It's has Sophie's name on it, next to the word CEO and Ashton has no idea how to pronounce that. There are series if numbers on the card and Ashton has no idea what they stand for.

"My office address is on there, along with my personal cell," Ashton nods, recalling that Mother had mention that those weird looking rectangles were called cell phones. Sophie grins, "It's practically right down the street, ya can't miss it. Come in on Monday at ten, I'll let my assistant know you'll be stopping by."

Sophie goes to leave the apartment when Ashton stops her, "How do you know I'll show up?" Sophie pauses before cracking a wide grin.

"Because I'd be deeply upset if you don't," Ashton's mouth goes slack because he didn't pen Sophie to use guilt over him. Sophie's lips curls to the side as she waves to Ashton, "See you Monday. Enjoy the apartment Ashton."

When Sophie's gone, Ashton sits in the middle of the room as he tries to decipher the card Sophie gave to him and what those numbers and letters could mean.

When Ashton transports back to home, he doesn't expect Michael waiting for him.

Michael is…well he's a bit of a mystery to Ashton. Michael' two seasonal years older then him, so he has the most experience of all of Ashton and his brothers. He's much friendlier and more outgoing then Calum is. Michael's nice to Ashton but often times Michael tends to keep to himself. Ashton has spied on Michael when Michael was in his dome and found Michael making icicles and making the snow dancing with his silent commands and hand gestures. He and Calum will have long conversations sometimes and Ashton wouldn't say he's envious of this. Him and Luke share a bond unlike any other and Mother says it has to do with the fact that their seasons are similar. Perhaps, Ashton thinks, that's why Calum and Michael are so close.

Ashton's and Michael' seasons are complete opposites and Ashton's always felt like that caused some sort of disconnection between the two of them.

But Michael was waiting for Ashton's return.

"Michael," Ashton breathes out.

Michael curtly nods at him, "Hello Ashton. How's Earth?" Ashton shrugs.

"Fine," Ashton's thoughts slip to Sophie and his lips curl in dreamy smile, "More then fine, really. Everything's sorta…wonderful."

Michael studies him, his piercing blue eyes locked on his youngest brother, "Right. Well, Mother mentioned that one your first day you went to Sheffield. I happened to check your position on the mapping cloud today and I noticed you were in the same city again."

Ashton's mood drops and he swallows thickly, "Ah, yes. I, um, I went back there again," Michael scowls and Ashton's quick with a response, "The summertime there is just so lovely, Michael! The flowers are so colorful and cheery! The sky is so clear there, not a single cloud! And the sun is so bright and hot-very, very hot!"

Ashton grins victoriously when Michael shivers at Ashton's words. The Wintery brother nods tensely and puts on a false smile, "That's uh-that's great Ashton. I, um-I gotta go back to me dome now. See ya."

Ashton snickers as he watches his brother all but run towards his dome to retreat to his season. He turns around and finds another brother, Calum. Ashton huffs at him; out of all his brothers, Ashton dislikes Calum the most. He's so reserved and closed off. Plus, Fall comes after Summer so naturally, there's a rift between the two of them. Calum glares at Ashton, his dark eyes frowning at him.

"Hi Calum," Ashton tries because he always tries with Calum.

Calum sharply replies, "Hello Ashton. Are you enjoying your summer?" Ashton beams at the question and is surprised that Calum would care.

"Oh yes! It's so warm and sunny! I love what I've created," Calum smirks cunningly.

"Well enjoy it while it lasts, dear brother," he says flatly, "before you'll know it, it'll be my season." Calum whistles happily as he walks off, leaving Ashton stunned and mortified.

Ashton huffs and a minute later makes his way to his own dome. He's created to warmth and the sun in his dorm greets him with its brightness. Ashton sighs as he walks over to the giant tree in the center of his dorm and sits under the tree. He thinks about the day's events and wonders just what the summer will have in store for him.

Ashton thinks that if Sophie's there, it just might be the best summer Ashton could ever dream of creating.

June 25th

"Oh, you must be Ashton!" a woman greats Ashton as soon as he walks into the door.

Ashton's taken aback-at the woman's zealous greeting and at the room he enters in. Everything is so…white and clean. If Ashton hadn't just left his dwelling to come here, he would be questioning if he really was back in the clouds. He looks over at the woman, who's standing behind a high table. She's pretty, Ashton thinks.

"I, um-yeah. I'm Ashton," he confirms weakly and the woman lights up.

"Perfect!" she sighs and walks out from behind the table. She stops short in front of Ashton, "I'm Hannah, Miss Pashley's assistant." She extends her arm and Ashton knows what to do with it. He shakes it unsurely and looks around curiously.

"Hi Hannah. Um, where is Sophie?" he asks, hoping he doesn't sound like he's been desperately wanting to Sophie.

Hannah smiles sweetly, "Miss Pashley, unfortunately, had a last minute meeting she couldn't get out of. So she won't be able to join us today."

Ashton frowns, "Oh." Hannah giggles.

"Don't worry, Ashton," she says, "Miss Pashley wanted me to go with you. She says I have a great sense of fashion. Plus, we have her credit card so we can go crazy with the clothes!"

Ashton laughs for her sake. He has no idea most of what she said, but Hannah seems genuinely nice so that eases Ashton's mind a bite, "O-Okay."

"Alright," Hannah sighs as she links elbows with him. Ashton follows her lead, "So I'm thinking you need color in your wardrobe. You can handle bright colors, Ashton."

Ashton grins happily, "I love bright colors!" Hannah laughs and grins fondly at him.

"Oh I like you already, Ashton!"

Two hours later, Ashton's modeling a pair of pastel blue shorts and a mint green shirt for Hannah. She frowns at him and shakes her head.

"No," she sighs, "You're more hipster college guy, not preppy high school boy."

And well…Ashton has no idea what to say to that.

"Go try the next one on," Hannah tells him sweetly and Ashton wants to groan. It's been hours since he's been outside and he's missing his sun. Still, he walks away from the mirrors and goes towards his dressing room.

Hannah insists they look at shoes next and Ashton learns he likes something called sneakers a lot. So they get a couple of pairs of sneakers along with some other shoes called sandals. Hannah asks if wanted to try on something called heels and Ashton nods, not really knowing what those were. But when he sees them, his eyes bug out because they look really intimidating. He tries them on and they make him a little taller but they hurt like nothing Ashton has ever experienced before so it's a hard no from him. Hannah laughs at him and dugs at his arm; Ashton follows easily.

It's in the middle of the afternoon that Hannah and Ashton return to Sophie's office.

"Miss Pashley should be finishing up with lunch," Hannah tells him as she sits down at her desks and pulls out her lunch. Ashton knows that humans eat and need to eat to survive but he doesn't really know different types of foods. Ashton doesn't need to eat to survive; he just needs his seasonal elements like sunshine and heat. So he declined Hannah's offer to get him something called a salad, "Are you sure you don't want a bite of my lunch?" she asks once more.

Ashton shakes his head, "No, I'm fine. But, can I go see Sophie now?" he asks and Lauren smirks knowingly.

"I'm sure she'd love to see you, hun," Hannah tells him, "It was a pleasure spending the day with you, Ashton." Ashton grins.

"Thanks Hannah. It was great spending the day with you too."

Ashton follows Hannah's instructions to Sophie's office and finds that her door is slightly opened. Ashton pauses by the door before leaning in and takes a peek inside. He finds Sophie at her desk, looking sharp in a tight blue dress. Ashton thinks that Sophie looks quite beautiful in navy blue but he can't dwell on that for long because someone speaks up.

"He's using you, Sophie," a man says and Ashton's stomach drops because it's Andy. Ashton shifts his gaze from Sophie and finds Andy on the opposite end of the room, leaning against a window. He shakes his head at Sophie, "First an upscale apartment and now an entire new wardrobe?! Why the Hell would you do that Sophie?"

"Because he's in need-" Sophie says.

"Because he's a gold digger!" Andy says coldly. And well, Ashton has no idea what that means, but the clear disgust in Andy's voice must mean that's not a good thing. A cloud of shame overcomes Ashton, "And you're letting him take from you because you think he's hot."

Hot? Well of course Ashton's hot, the boy thinks. He is made out of a ray from the sun after all.

Sophie's face turns red, "I…yes Ashton is attractive," Ashton bites his lips to keep himself from squealing, "But I don't even know if he's into me." Andy scoffs bitterly.

"Sophie, when will you wake up and see that it doesn't fucking matter to him. You're just gonna keep writing checks for him and paying for his shit! He's taking advantage of you! He's probably on con looking to get your money and one day you're gonna wake up and find he's gone and your bank accounts drained! Ashton's gonna hurt you!"

Ashton can't help the gasp that escapes his lips. Ashton could never dream of hurting Sophie. Sophie's been so nice to him and wonderful and-how could he hurt Sophie? How could anyone think he could hurt Sophie?

Both people in the office stop and look over in Ashton's direction. Sophie's face falls as she rises to her feet, "Ashton!" she calls out to him, but Ashton is already taking off.

He runs down the hall and past Hannah's desk who calls out for him too but like Sophie, Ashton ignores her. He runs down the stairs until he's on the ground floor of the building. He runs out the front door and as soon as he's outside, it starts to sprinkle light raindrops around Ashton. It wasn't in the plans Ashton made-today was supposed to be partly cloudy but no rain, high of seventy-five.

But being Mother Earth's son, the weather is linked to Ashton and his brothers' moods, whether in his dome or on Earth. If Ashton's happy, then the weather and the nature around him are happy. But if Ashton is sad, his feelings can affect the weather negatively.

Ashton's upset and hurt and sad, so it spontaneously rains all around him once he's outside. Ashton finds a path of grass under a tree next to the building and sits under it.

He holds back his emotions as best as he can because Ashton knows he's an ugly crier. But he just can't help it. Ashton thinks, as his tears mix with the raindrops, that maybe he should just never come back to Sheffield. Maybe it would be best for Sophie's sake if he just disappeared and never returned. Maybe-

"Ashton?"

Ashton looks up at Sophie and lets out a shaky breath. Sophie's face is hard as rocks as she sits down beside Ashton on the wet grass. Ashton refuses to look at her again because he'll cry for sure. Sophie's probably convinced that Ashton is all kinds of awful and will probably never want to see him again.

So he's surprised when Sophie's hand ends up on his hand. It startles Ashton, but he eases into Sophie's touch a second later and leans over to plant his head on Sophie's shoulder. Maybe it's a bite too much, since they barely know each other but Ashton's always loved a good cuddle when he's upset. Plus Sophie doesn't seem to mind because she wraps his arm around him and it keeps Ashton to her side. So Sophie's not mad with him? She wants Ashton close to her? Ashton is just confused and upset and he hates feeling this way.

"I'm so sorry, Ashton," Sophie tells him softly a minute later. Ashton sighs weakly.

"It's okay-"

"No it's not!" Sophie insists, "Andy-he's not. Normally, he's never like that. But like, he's been my best friend for ages and. He's just…really protective of me I guess."

Ashton breaks away and looks up at Sophie as he sniffles, "I-I get that."

"It's no excuse for his behavior though," Sophie says surely and she shakes her head, "Oh Ashton, I'm so sorry. I know you're a good person. I don't know you that much but I know you're a good guy. Andy's just looking out for me but he crossed a line." Ashton's eyes bug out.

"L-Sophie. It's not that big of a deal. It's a reason for you to end your friendship with him."

ophie snickers, "Andy's done a lot of shit to me in the past," Ashton frowns because he's never heard of that word before. What exactly is a shit? He'll have to learn that too. Sophie's sigh draws Ashton back, "And I've been mad at him but I've always taken him back. That's what best friends do. So I'm mad at him now, but I'll probably talk to him soon and tell him not to be rude to you."

"Sophie," Ashton sighs, "He does have a point."

"No he doesn't," Sophie insists. Sophie tilts his head up with his fingers under his chin. Sophie's eyes are just so kind and trusting and Ashton fears he just might melt into them, "Like I said, I can help you out so I will. I think you're great and I'm more then willing to help you out."

The rain lets up a little bit because of that.

Ashton coughs tightly, "O-Okay," he says and Sophie looks relieved, "But!" He starts, "You have to agree with me on something."

"What's that?" Sophie asks, frowning. Ashton bites lip.

"I'll only let you help me for the summer," Ashton tells her his throat growing tight, "Once summer's over, you can't help me out anymore."

Sophie tilts her head, "What if you don't find a place or a job before the end of the summer?" Ashton advert his eyes.

"It won't matter."

Sophie's quiet before agreeing, "Alright," Sophie offers Ashton's hand and Ashton smirks, "We'll be business partners just for the summer then, yeah?"

Ashton has no idea what he's talking about, but he agrees to the plan with a hand shake-one of the few human things he knows how to do, "Okay."

Sophie's smile burns brighter then anything the sun could dish out in the heat of summer.

All around them, any trace of rain vanishes within seconds. The sun blazes across the sky and small dandelions pop up from the grass around them. Needless to say, Ashton loves being complimented on, especially by pretty girls. And by girls, he means Sophie, and only Sophie.

Sophie looks around at the scene with amazement, "Wait…" She breathes out, "Were these dandelions always here?" Ashton's stomach drops. Sophie's very observant evidently.

"I think so, yeah."

"Anyway," She looks down at Ashton's hands and coughs tightly, "I, um. I was hoping that I could, like. I mean. I just…I would really like to have you over for dinner."

Ashton blinks, "Oh." __Dinner: a human meal that happens at the end of the day__. Ashton knows what that is but he doesn't know why Sophie's gone so shy over it.

"Yeah," Sophie sighs, "I mean, if you don't want to. T-That's cool. I just-"

"Yes," Ashton breathes out. Sophie's smile grows larger.

"Really?" Ashton nods shyly, "Okay, um. I'm pretty busy this week-I just met with a new client today. But. How about Saturday? I'm free all day-you can come any time you want. Come at three in the morning, I don't care!"

Ashton giggles, "I won't come that early. But…how about early afternoon?" Sophie nods quickly.

"Yes, yes. That sounds fantastic!" Sophie says, "I need to go back inside. Will I see you the rest of the week?" Ashton's face falls.

"Oh, um. I dunno," he says, "I, um. I should really look for jobs." He plays up the façade Sophie has going for him.

Sophie nods, "Right. Okay then. I'll see you Saturday then?" Ashton bites his smile as he nods and Sophie has a dopy smile on her lips, "Alright. It's a date then. I'll see you on Saturday-and good luck with everything."

Ashton watches Sophie go back into the building. Once she's out of sight Ashton sighs and strolls happily about the streets of Sheffield to take in the heat, his spirits incredibly high.

It's only right before he transports home that Ashton realizes he has no idea what a __date__ is exactly.

Ashton's skipping and kicking small wisps of clouds around when Michael approaches him. Ashton stops frolicking about and nervously eyes his older brother.

"I know you went back there," Michael tells him in a harsh whisper, his eyes piercing blue and angry. Ashton swallows thickly and shrugs.

"I dunno what you're talking about," Ashton insists weakly. He goes to leave, but Michael plants his staff in front of Ashton's feet and Ashton holds his breath. Michael's staff has beckoned blizzards in the winter. Michael's silvery staff with a sapphire sphere at the end of it makes the snowflakes pound the Earth violently under Michael' control.

Ashton fears the staff more then he can admit.

"Why do you keep going back there?" Michael asks and there's something in his tone that tells Ashton that he must answer it. He swallows thickly and looks over to his brother.

"D-Does Mother know?"

"The Winter brother shakes his head, "Mother's been busy in the Pacific. She's helping a school of fish migrate." Ashton nods quickly and closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath.

"I-I've met a human," Ashton tells him. Michael recoils a little bit and stares at his youngest brother in horror.

"YOU WHAT?!" He billows, his breath leaving a slightly cool mark on his cheek. Ashton stumbles backwards, his eyes widened in shock like a baby doe.

"H-Her name is Sophie," Ashton says dumbly.

"I don't care what this human's name is!" Michael grunts out, "I need to know why you thought it was a good idea to keep seeing this girl?"

Ashton huffs, "Because she's nice, Michael!" He crosses his arms into his chest and pouts, "You don't know her like I do!" Michael shakes his head at Ashton, his eyes in shock.

"It's only been summer for a week!" he points out, "How can you even know this Sarah girl-"

"Sophie," Ashton corrects aggregately.

Michael sighs and looks at his youngest brother with kinder eyes, "Ashton, please. Don't-you can't get close to any humans. It's not a good idea." Ashton studies him.

"How do you know?" Michael pauses before answering slowly.

"Ashton, people on Earth, they're. They-people hurt each other, all the time. People are mean and they steal and they destroy things they touch." Ashton shakes his head.

"N-No," he says as firmly as he can, "Sophie's not like that. She's, she's kind and caring and generous."

"Generous?" Michael asks sternly.

Ashton shrugs timidly, "She…might have thought I was homeless? And…Sophie is kinda paying for a place for me to stay…and she bought a lot of human clothes for me too." Michael looks at him dumbly.

"Ashton," he groans through gritted teeth, "You let her do that?"

"I couldn't stop her!" Ashton says, and he shakes his head, "And like, she was so persistent. And that proves that she does care for me!"

Michael shakes his head, "Ashton, that doesn't prove anything!" Ashton glares at him. He strongly dislikes Michael right now.

"Well," he huffs, "Sophie asked me on a date Saturday, so she must care for me!"

Michael' face falls, the hard exterior falls away into stunned amazement, "You're going on a date with this human?"

And Ashton has no clue what a date is, but somehow Michael does?

"Yes I am," Ashton challenges him. Michael stares at him, face hardening up again.

"You can't go, Ashton-"

"I'm going!"

"You'll get hurt," Michael tells Ashton softly. Ashton backs off and looks at his brother closely because there's something so sure in his voice. Michael just knows Ashton will be hurt but Ashton doesn't understand how he can be so sure of this.

"What-"

"Ashton!" Luke suddenly appears from nowhere and tackles Ashton with a hug, "I haven't seen you all day! How are you, dear brother?" Michael leaves a pointed look on Ashton before turning around and storming off to his dome. Luke shutters at the sound of Michael slamming the door to his dome shut and asks, "What in the clouds is his issue today? He's been in a mood."

Ashton shakes his head, "I dunno."

They head off to Luke's dome, which happens to be next to Michael's. Ashton looks to his oldest brother's dome and notices that the entire door is a block of ice. Inside Michael' dome, Ashton sees his brother waving his staff around, commanding fat and fast flakes of snow to spin around him until Michael disappears in the snow.

Ashton's not sure what to think about all this, but Luke's pulling him into his dome before Ashton even has a chance to process all this.

June 30th

When Saturday comes, Ashton's a giddy mess of excitement and nerves.

He transports to Earth and arrives inside his apartment. It's weird, Ashton thinks, that he has a home in the clouds and a home on Earth. Being in the apartment a second time, Ashton still calls his dwelling in the clouds his true home. But this is nice too, Ashton's just not familiar with everything around him.

Ashton trots over the bags of clothes Hannah had someone send up to his apartment on Monday after their shopping trip. He didn't understand at the time but now as he stands surrounded by bags and bags of human clothes, he gets it.

Ashton riffles through the bags of clothes until he finds a plain white top and something called jeans with holes in them that Hannah said looked 'cool'. He wasn't too fond of the wording, and he didn't really understand why he would want ruined clothing, but she persisted. Ashton is giddy as he puts on his new human clothes and looks around every reflective surface he can just to see his reflection.

Ashton's playing with his hair in the mirror when some noise breaks through quiet apartment. Ashton freezes and looks around. He frowns as he follows the noise and comes up to the source of the ruckus. This item looks square-ish and is making this short, repeated ringing noise. Ashton's not sure what to think, but eventually the ringing stops.

Ashton jolts when a monotone voice speaks up.

 _" _Please leave a message after the beep."__

Ashton's body jumps back at the voice. He doesn't like that square-ish looking thing at all.

But then he hears Sophie's voice coming from it.

 _"_ _ _Ashton? It's um, it's me Sophie,"__ _she_ says, Sophie's voice filling the apartment effortlessly. Ashton melts under her voice. It doesn't sound exactly like Sophie, the square thing makes her voice sound a little strange, but Ashton loves hearing Sophie speak, _"_ _ _Listen, I, um. God, I hope you're home. I realized I never gave you my address? Which was totally dumb and stupid of me. So I um, ah, just sorta…walked to your place? So, um. I'm here, now. Like, outside, so. If you're ready, cool. If not, I'll be here. I just," s__ he breathes, _"_ _ _I wanted to see you is all."__

Something inside Ashton flips around. A slow, billowing smile takes over his face.

Sophie's waiting for him outside.

Ashton all but runs out of the apartment and finds a staircase. He makes quick, small steps down the stairs until he's at ground level. There, he can see Sophie waiting outside for him nervously. Ashton's been all over the world this past week, checking up on how other parts of the world are experiencing his summer. But all the other cities pale in comparison to being here.

When Ashton walks out, he's greeted to a sheepish smile from Sophie that somehow radiates more then Ashton's beloved sun.

"Hi," Ashton says shyly. Instead of replying, Sophie walks up to him and wraps her arms around his waist, placing her head on his chest in a hug.

Ashton's been hugged before. His Mother gives amazing hugs and Luke puts everything he has into his hugs. But this, hugging Sophie is on a different level. Ashton can feel Sophie's arms imprinted in his body. He can smell Sophie and that scent is different from any flower. Its like Ashton's smelling all the flowers at once; Sophie's scent is light and sweet and Ashton loves it.

"Hey Ashton," Sophie whispers into his chest. Sophie draws back and fondly looks at Ashton, "I've missed you."

Ashton sure his skin turns into a lovely shade of rose-pink.

"Really?" Ashton asks, just to be sure. Sophie chuckles and grins, her teeth nibbling on her bottom lip and for some reason, Ashton finds even that adorable.

"Of course I did, sunshine," Sophie tells him. Ashton's heart stops at that and he's pretty sure his blush deepens, "Come on, we can walk for a little bit before it starts to rain."

Ah yes, Ashton did check on the weather for today that he scheduled well in advanced. He has to fit in rain into his forecast, unfortunately, and Ashton can't change the planned weather once he's planned it out. His mood can affect the weather a little bit, but it won't change it completely. If it could Ashton's happy mood when he's with Sophie would make the clouds go away. But at least rain helps the plants thrive.

Sadly, the clouds come faster then Ashton can will them away. Summer fronts are so strong and powerful, Ashton knows this since he's the one who creates them. So Sophie leads Ashton through the pounding rain that springs out of nowhere. She holds Ashton's hand and swiftly runs down the streets; Ashton giggles as Sophie takes him to wherever, he trusts Sophie completely. People look at them strangely and Ashton has no idea why. Why is it so odd to enjoy a little summer rain?

Sophie takes Ashton to a building, much like where Ashton's apartment is. Only this building doesn't look so scary and metallic. This building is made of white brick and there's a certain allure to this building that makes Ashton feel as ease. There are even vines growing from the windows and there's a large magnolia tree swaying in the breeze with white magnolia flowers on it.

Ashton quite likes this building.

"C'mon on in," Sophie tells him and it takes Ashton by surprise. Sophie has opened the door the building and is standing inside of it with her hand extended towards him. Ashton takes it willingly and walks inside.

It looks like…well, it also looks like Ashton's apartment inside. There are similar features in this place that Ashton's apartment has. But there's the same brick wall on the outside of the building inside as well on one wall. And there are lots of drawings hanging on the walls. And it smells like lavender and Ashton just loves that smell. Everything about this place screams Sophie.

"You live here?" Ashton concludes but he comes out as a question. He's too wrapped up in the drawings on the wall. It's all drawings of humans and Sophie's in all of them.

"Of course I do," Sophie muses, "What gave it away? Me turning the key to the front door or these pictures of me with my family?"

So these drawings are called pictures, hm? Ashton must remember that.

"A little bit of both I guess," Ashton plays along, his consideration going back to the pictures, "You have a beautiful family." Sophie places something around his shoulders-its fluffly and white, and it covers his chest and back.

Sophie smiles, seemingly sheepish at the compliment, "They're pretty great," she points to one of the women in the pictures, "That's my mom. She still lives in Rotherham," Rotherham? Ashton doesn't know what that is. He doesn't question it for long because Sophie points to another woman, this one looking more like Sophie, "This is my sister, Megan. She lives in London with her wife, Ginny. And this," Sophie points to a different woman, "This is Emma, my other sister. She lives the closest to me, in Leeds with her husband, Mark. They just got married last spring."

Married? Again, Ashton feels lost. But Sophie's voice sounds happy as she tells Ashton this, so it must be a good thing then. Ashton nods and smiles at the pictures.

"You have a lovely family," Ashton sighs.

"Most of my family is," she says lowly. Ashton wants to know what she means by that, but Sophie quickly changes the subject, "Do you have any sisters, Ashton?"

Ashton knows he shouldn't tell Sophie the truth. But there's just something about the girl that makes all rationale leave Ashton's mind.

"I have three brothers," he blurts out softly.

"Wow," Sophie breathes out. "What are they like?"

Ashton coughs tightly, "Well, um. There's Calum, which I never got along with all that much."

"Seriously? How can anyone not adore you," Ashton blushes and turns around.

"I dunno," Ashton sighs, "I don't like to think about Calum, much." It's because Calum embodies everything about autumn and autumn comes after summer. Autumn means that summer is over and Ashton doesn't like to think about that.

"Okay," Sophie says, "Tell me about your other brothers."

"Well, Michael's the oldest. He's like, very protective of me because I'm the youngest and like-that's just silly."

"Silly?"

"Yes silly," Ashton huffs and Sophie laughs.

"My sisters are younger then me and I had to fight all of their battles for them."

"Still," Ashton sighs, "I don't need him-I can take care myself."

"Of course you can, sunshine," Sophie tells him with the sweetest smile on her face, "Okay, so tell me about your last brother."

Ashton can't help the smile, "He's name is Luke. He's so funny and sweet. He's my best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend," Sophie pouts and Ashton giggles.

"You're a different kind of best friend," he tells Sophie somewhat seriously, "You're my best friend in a different way, more then just a friend." Sophie smirks dreamily at that.

"Okay," Sophie breathes out and then coughs tightly as she backs off a little, "Do you want another towel? That one looks soaked."

So the thing around Ashton is called a towel. Dooley noted.

"That would be great, thanks," Ashton says as he shrugs off the towel. Sophie's eyes look down to Ashton chest and she seems flustered. Ashton, being curious, looks down at Sophie's chest. Her shirt is soaked, just like Ashton's and Ashton can see the cruves of Sophie's human body through the shirt. It makes his gulp thickly. His heart flutters in his chest but he's not sure why.

Sophie returns with a dry towel and they move over to Sophie's couch (yet another new word Ashton learns). They sit at opposite ends of the couch with their legs tangled together between them and talk for some time. Sophie goes on for a bit about her family and how much she wishes she can see them more often. She talks about how she's taking time off from work over the summer and has so much planned for the summer. Of course, Sophie invites Ashton to do these too, and even though Ashton doesn't know what Sophie is talking about half the time, Ashton's more then willing to tag along.

But, there's something in the room that Ashton's been eying for a while and he must know what it is.

"What's that?" Sophie looks over and grins.

"That's my record player," she beams with pride, "It's vintage. I found it as a market and bought it fairly cheap. The guy selling it told me that it was a piece of junk, but I was able to find someone who restored it. It sounds wonderful."

So this thing makes sounds? Just like the square-ish thing in Ashton's apartment makes sounds too? Ashton isn't sure if he'll like this record player.

"Do you want me to play something for you?" Sophie suggests and Ashton nods timidly. Sophie leaves the couch with a smirk and a quick pip in her step. She scans her hand over some things that Ashton doesn't know at all but Sophie seems excited as she pulls something out. Sophie beams as she shows it to Ashton proudly.

"This is an original Ray Charles record from 1960," Sophie tells him happily, "It belonged to my granddad, and he kept in mint condition."

Ashton flashes her a wide grin, even though he's not quite sure what she's talking about. He's still excited for Sophie. Sophie walks over to the record player and within a few minutes there are sounds coming out of it. Sophie steps back and turns to Ashton as beautiful sounds fill the room. The rain has picked up outside, but it's overshadowed a man's voice coming from the strange machine.

 _"_ _ _Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through. Just an old sweet song, keeps Georgia on my mind."__

Sophie extends her arm to Ashton with a bashful grin on her lips, "Can I have this dance, Ashton?"

"I dunno how to dance," Ashton tells her honestly. He hasn't a single idea what that is. Sophie laughs at him and takes his hand. She pulls him up on his feet.

"Just hold me close and follow my lead, okay?" Sophie tells him in a hushed voice. Ashton nods weakly.

So dancing is holding someone close and moving slowly? Ashton can do that.

Sophie hums to the noise coming out of the record player. Her hands are strong and stable on Ashton's body, one sprawled out over Ashton's right shoulder and the other one holding onto Ashton's hand. His heart thumped in his chest as Sophie's head laid on Ashton's chest, making Ashton's skin prickle in delight.

 _"_ _ _Other arms are reached out to me,"__ Sophie says melodically with the record and Ashton shivers, _"_ _ _Other eyes smile tenderly. Still, in peaceful dreams I see the road leads back to you."__

The hand on Ashton's shoulder tightens and Ashton gasps slightly. He closes his eyes and lets himself be swept away by the noise coming out of the record player and Sophie's arms.

When the song ends, Ashton begs Sophie, "Again, please?" Sophie scoffs fondly.

"I love this song too," Sophie tells him and breaks away to the record player.

They dance and laugh and talk and listen to records until the rain stops and the sky begins to darken. Ashton feels slightly tired and drained and needs to leave. He knows he must but Sophie's hands are making grabbing movements and she whines in protest to Ashton.

"Don't go," she pleads like a child and pouts, "We haven't even eaten dinner yet."

Ashton laughs at him and fondly smiles, "I have to go," he insists softly.

He really wishes he didn't have to though. But Ashton is feeling exhausted and he knows it's because he's been on Earth for too long now. He needs to be in his clouds, back in his dome but that means leaving Sophie behind. And Ashton hates that idea.

"If you must," Sophie caves with a sigh. She then tenderly looks up to Ashton and curls her fingers lightly around Ashton's. She sways their hands between them, "Did you have fun today?"

"Yes," Ashton tells him swiftly and sure.

Sophie nods and looks relieved, "Good, great. Um, the Fourth of July is coming up and they have a great fireworks show in the park. They also set up carnival games and like," she smiles and shyly looks over to Ashton, "I was hoping you'd like to come with me."

And here's when Ashton realizes just how dangerous Sophie might be. Maybe Michael was right, maybe interacting with humans is a bad idea. He realizes this, because he knows that he can't say no to Sophie. He just can't. Sophie's too nice and her smile is too captivating and her hand somehow burns into Ashton's skin, even though he's made of a part of the sun and he never gets too hot. He always feels pleasantly warmer with Sophie. He always wants to be with Sophie and maybe that's dangerous for Ashton.

"I'd love to come," Ashton tells him. Sophie grins happily.

"Perfect! It starts at like, 7-ish? It's not far at all, so I'll pick you up at 6:30?" Sophie says excitedly.

Ashton finds himself grinning, "Okay."

"Okay then," Sophie pauses and stares at him before leaning up and briskly placing her lips on Ashton's cheek. Ashton feels everything slow down around them. Sophie's lips sears Ashton's skin and it feels like his insides are jumping like crazy. But it's a…good feeling, Ashton determines. He's not sure what this feeling is but he likes it a lot. Ashton's not sure what he should do or what this all means but he knows he likes having Sophie's lips on his skin.

Sophie pulls back and she looks flustered and unsure, "I'll um, see you on the fourth, right?"

"Yeah," Ashton breathes out and adds on weakly, "T-Thanks, um. For today."

That makes Sophie smile and that smile is the last thing Ashton sees before he leaves.

Ashton walks through puddles in the street as he wraps his mind around everything.

What are fireworks? They sound scary…and games? What exactly are games?

But what confuses Ashton the most is why Sophie felt the need to put her lips on Ashton's cheek. Yes it was lovely but why did she do that? Ashton sighs with frustration and finds the nearest, empty space and transports back home.

"Ashton," Michael greets him when Ashton's barely landed back on the clouds. Ashton sighs at the sight of his wintery brother.

"Michael, please. Don't scold me," Ashton pleas weakly and moves towards his dome. Michael grabs onto the collar of Ashton's robe and stops him.

"Ashton you can't keep doing this," Michael tells him again, sounding more manic then angry. Ashton can't pinpoint why Michael even cares so much.

Ashton just sighs and asks something that he needs to know, "What's a song?" This perplexes Michael.

"A song?"

Ashton nods, "Sophie um. She played something on this thing called a record player? She called this thing, this noise, her favorite song and I dunno what a song is," Ashton tells him and he weakly adds, "I just want to know what a song is." Michael doesn't say another and maybe Ashton shouldn't have asked. It's clear Michael doesn't like Sophie so why would he try to help Ashton understand her more?

"A song is like a story," Michael tells him eventually. Ashton looks up at him, his eyes begging for him to go on, "It's like a story, but there's music to it and-like the words are not spoken. They're sung, which is also known as singing. Singing is like speaking but you move your voice up and down with the music," he frowns to himself, "Does that make sense?"

"Not really," Ashton sighs in frustration. He looks up to his brother with a weak smile, "Thanks for trying to teach me, though."

Michael looks at him firmly, "I know you're going to keep seeing this Sophie girl and no matter what I tell you, you're going to go to Sophie. But please Ashton, believe me when I say you'll get hurt. Maybe not by Sophie, but by what Sophie is and by what you are and whatever relationship this is, it won't last."

 _ _I'm Summer__ , Ashton thinks. Sophie is only a human.

But she's the best human ever.

Michael leaves him be and Ashton sluggishly walks to his dome. Immediately opening the door, Ashton's welcomed to hot, blazing warmth under a blanket of the summer stars in his dome. Ashton peels his robe off and lays in his cloud bed.

Ashton drifts to sleep and dreams of Sophie.

 _"_ _ _Still in peaceful dreams I see the road leads back to you."__

July 4th

It's not clear to Ashton why the Fourth of July is such a big deal.

The city of Sheffield is decked out in red, white and blue. Flags made of those colors, along with stars and stripes hand all over the city. Ashton's seen this flag before in many cities in England, many times in fact. But he's never seen people carry small versions of the flag, or people wearing the flag on t-shirts.

He's not sure why, but the air in the city is excited so Ashton is excited too.

Plus, Sophie's there too, which excites Ashton more then he can say.

"Are you thirsty?" Sophie asks.

Ashton shakes his head and pulls on a sweet smile, "I'm fine, thanks." Sophie nods and looks around.

"Well we can do whatever you like," Sophie says, "They have all sorts of rides and games, as you can see. And food too, in case you get hungry. The fireworks start at 10, so we got plenty of time to explore."

Ashton grins, "Good."

The two move through the crowd slowly. Ashton's eyes are captivated by the lights and the beautiful sunset off in the distance. He smells things that Ashton's never smelled before, something heavy and musky. Ashton's not sure he likes these scents. And then there's all the people bustling around them, talking excitedly and smiling. Ashton smiles at the happy humans. He loves hearing their voices and how different they sound from each other. He notices some song playing loudly far away. It's not as lovely or calming as the song Sophie played for him but Ashton likes it enough.

Sophie's fingers surprise the back of Ashton's hand. They slide down Ashton's hand and Sophie links their fingers together, their hands connected loosely between them. And Ashton wasn't expecting that at all-why would Sophie hold Ashton's hand? It doesn't make sense to Ashton. It's not unpleasant, in fact Ashton kinda likes it.

"Are you okay with this?" Sophie asks, her hand squeezing Ashton's slightly.

Ashton nods quickly and flashes a tiny smile, "Yeah." Sophie beams at Ashton's answer and continues to lead them through the park. They stop in front of a table that says, "FACE PAINT" on it. Ashton frowns at a woman putting colorful lines on a little girl.

Sophie suggests, "You want your face painted?"

"Oh," Ashton breathes out just as the little boy looks at Ashton happily. The boy's face has tiger stripes on it and that makes Ashton excited, "Yeah-yes I would!"

Sophie chuckles, "Okay, sunshine."

And Sophie did it again-he called Ashton sunshine. And it still makes Ashton's stomach drop slightly and his heart ripple in his chest. Why does Sophie call him that name? And why does that name affect him so much?

Ashton sits down in a chair and greets a woman named Alex.

"So Ashton, what do you want painted?" Ashton purses his lips.

"I don't know," he helplessly looks up at Sophie, who smiles down at him.

"You want me to decide?" Ashton nods, "Okay…um," Sophie thinks before grinning to herself. She leans over to Hannah and talks in her ear. The other woman looks over at Ashton and smiles kindly. Sophie sits next to Ashton as Alex picks up a wand looking object. She puts in a vat of thick orange substance that Ashton guesses is paint, whatever that is.

"You ready?" Hannah asks and Ashton nods quickly and closes his eyes. Sophie holds his hand as something wet lands on his cheek.

"You're gonna love it when you see it, sunshine," Ashton smirks at Sophie's words and gets scolded by Hannah for moving his face. He feels guilty for a second but Sophie's laughter makes that go away.

A few minutes later, Alex tells Ashton he's all done. When Ashton opens his eyes, he's greeted to his reflection and smiles at the tiny orange and yellow image on his cheek.

"A sun?" Ashton says fondly as his eyes drift to Sophie. The human beside Ashton shrugs.

"You're such a bright, warm person Ashton," Sophie tells him softly, "you remind me of the sun."

Ashton grins, "I love it."

"I'm glad you do, sunshine."

Sophie takes Ashton to something called a carousel. It looks daunting as Sophie and Ashton climb on and Ashton's not sure what this carousel is or does. There are large, fake animals on poles all over the carousel and it scares Ashton a little bit. He looks over and Sophie has mounted onto a tiger so Ashton sits on the white horse next to Sophie.

"Hold on," Sophie tells Ashton and Ashton mirrors Sophie as her hands grip onto the pole.

They start to move and Ashton gasps. The carousel moves in a circle but also Ashton's horse moves up and down too! Ashton's nervous at first but then he looks and sees all the lights and the colors of the festival buzzing around them and it thrills him. He laughs uncontrollable and lets go of the pole to extend his arms outward. He nearly falls off his fake horse but Sophie's hand catches him.

Sophie has a content expression on his face, along with a tiny, dazed smile as she looks at Ashton. It makes Ashton's squirm happily under Sophie's watch.

After they ride the carousal another two times, it's nearing twilight so Sophie suggests they find a spot to sit and watch the fireworks.

So they won't actually touch the fireworks? Humans just watch fireworks? How can that be entertaining? Still, Ashton follows Sophie, their hands connected between them. Sophie gets some water on their way to find their spot.

Ashton picked out their spot underneath a tall magnolia tree. Ashton was drawn to the tree due to the pale pink magnolia flowers in full bloom on its branches. Ashton loves this spot and loves watching the stars with Sophie beside him.

"So you liked the carousel?" Sophie asks.

"I loved it!" Ashton replies eagerly, "It was so cool! Spinning around like that-I felt like I was flying!"

Sophie chuckles, "I like your spirit Ashton." Ashton blushes.

"Thank you," Ashton looks up at the sky. It's a warm, muggy summer night-just the way Ashton likes them. The sky is mostly clear with a few thin clouds mixed in with the stars. It's perfect, really truly perfect-especially since Sophie's here.

"I like that color on you," Sophie comments, his fingers skimming over Ashton's shorts. They're dark denim blue and textured and Ashton loves them and loves being complimented by Sophie.

"Thanks," Ashton smooth over his shirt. It's white and has a button and a tricky tie in the front that took ages for Ashton to figure out. Human clothes can be hard to figure out at times but Ashton likes how his looks, and thankfully Sophie does too.

Sophie asks, "So are you excited for the fireworks? They should be starting soon."

"Yeah," Ashton tries to sound convincing. Sophie looks a littler nervous which makes Ashton nervous too.

"It's um-we can like, get close and snuggle if you like," Sophie tells him, "it makes watching fireworks a lot more fun."

Snuggle? Is this yet another thing humans do? It sounds…cute and not scary at all. So Ashton nods.

"Okay," he smiles at Sophie, who looks relieved. She scoots in closer to Ashton and wraps Ashton's arm around her shoulders and pulls herself into his side.

Oh. So this was snuggling? Ashton thought. Ashton could get used to snuggling.

Soon enough the sky darkens and people find places in the grass to sit down. Ashton's pretty anxious to see just what these fireworks will do.

Suddenly there's a loud bang that comes out of nowhere. Ashton jerks at the sound, his face frowning as the sky fills up with bright red streaky lights that fall to Earth. Another bang goes off and another and another until Ashton can't see the stars anymore. Green, white, blue and red lights full the evening sky. And yes the lights in the sky look pretty but it's that loud noise that frightens Ashton.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Ashton doesn't like fireworks.

Ashton needs to get away from the fireworks.

Somehow, Ashton breaks from Sophie's hold and darts through the crowd. With each firework going off in the sky, Ashton winces and tries his best to cover his ears but the sound is just too loud. It's too loud and it makes him scared and when he's scared he cries. He bumps into humans but doesn't apologize to them-he just walks on until he's on a street, deserted and alone.

But not for long.

"Ashton?" Sophie calls out for him, not sounding too far away. When Ashton turns around, Sophie's there with this forlorn look on her face, "Ashton," she whispers.

Ashton shakes his head, "I-I, it's too loud. I-I don't-" Ashton heaves for air and Sophie swoops in.

"Shh, it's okay. Just breathe," she encourages with light strokes to Ashton's cheeks, "Just breath in nice and slow." Ashton nods quickly and follows Sophie's instructions. He breathes until he relaxes a bit and his tears dry up.

"I'm sorry," he croaks out.

Sophie shakes his head, "Don't be. We all get spooked sometimes."

But Ashton wants to argue that because it was something that Sophie looked forward to. It was something that for some reason other humans were excited for. Ashton just wants to tell Sophie that he's not sure how he's supposed to react to fireworks because he's never seen the before but he can't.

"From here, the fireworks aren't so bad, right?" Sophie asks, her voice gentle and hopeful. Ashton dares to look from where he came from and flinches as another firework billows in the sky.

But it's not as loud as before. In fact, the banging noise is just a distant thud-one that doesn't scare Ashton. Ashton straightens his stance and his eyes widen. It's not as scary anymore.

"Yeah," Ashton says, a tiny smile reaching his lips. He doesn't take his eyes off of the fireworks as Sophie's hand slips into his, "It's so beautiful."

Sophie chuckles at that and it gets Ashton's attention, "What's so funny?" Ashton demands. Sophie's gaze is soft as she looks up at Ashton.

"Nothing, just," Sophie takes in a breath and smiles widely, "I think you're by far the most cutest thing I've ever seen."

Ashton blinks at him, his head shaking, "Me?" Sophie nods surely, "No. Have you seen flowers? Or kittens? Or butterflies?! Those things are cute." Sophie laughs again and it angers Ashton, "What?"

"I have seen those things Ashton, and they're not the most cute thing," Sophie smiles up at him and places her hand on his chest, "You are, sunshine."

Ashton opens his mouth to protest but suddenly, Sophie's lips are on his.

It makes Ashton's insides bubble up in his chest and tummy. He stands there and doesn't move an inch as Sophie's lips stay against his. It feels nice, yes, but Ashton's unsure why Sophie's doing this. It makes Ashton's mind move faster then he transports from the clouds to Earth trying to understand __why__ this was happening. Sophie's eyes are closed and her one hand is cupping the side of Ashton's neck-but __why?__

Sophie finally pulls back and has this dopy smile on her face as she takes in breath.

Ashton frowns at him before silently taking off again.

"Ashton?" Sophie calls for him in a panic but Ashton doesn't respond. He takes brisk steps while Sophie yells out for him and his name echoes off of the buildings around him. Ashton doesn't acknowledge it, just keeps moving until he's next to the building where his apartment is.

Ashton quickly gets to the ally and crosses his arms over his chest and thinks of summer-y thoughts.

"Ashton!" Michael' voice is the first thing he hears as his feet hit the familiar cloud, "Where were you? Mother was asking for you and I said that you retired to your dome and," he stops and studies Ashton's face, "Is that-what do you have a sun on your face?"

"Michael," Ashton breathes out, his head hurting from his confusion, "I have to-I need to know. I-Sophie did something."

Michael's face darkens, "What did she do? Did she hurt you?" Ashton shakes his head.

"N-No, I mean, I don't think she did." He says truthfully.

"What did she do then?" Michael asks and Ashton sighs.

"She, um, put her lips on my lips?" Ashton tries to explain, "She did it before-I mean, she had her lips on my cheek before but. She put her lips on my lips tonight and-I feel…like really confused? I don't know if I should be happy or if it's a bad thing."

A beat passes before Michael chuckles as well and Ashton's tired of people laughing at him.

"What?"

Ashton tilts his head at the new word, "A kiss?" Michael nods.

"Humans do that if they really like someone," he smiles, "it's like hugging but like-you can hug anyone. But humans only kiss people that are really important to them."

"Oh…" Ashton exhales as he processes everything, "So…Sophie kissed me? Which means, Sophie likes me? Like a lot?"

"Yep," Michael confirms.

Ashton blinks as a blush takes over his face, "So what do I do now? I took off after she kissed me!"

Michael rolls his eyes, "If you like Sophie kissing you then you kiss her back."

"Oh," Ashton breathes out, "how do I do that-how do I kiss?"

"Ugh, okay like-move your lips against hers?" Ashton's frown deepens and Michael shakes his head, "I dunno. Like you'll know what to do. Just do what feels right."

Ashton smirks playfully, "Sounds like you've been kissed before," he remarks as a joke but Michael's face pales and his stomach drops. Ashton gasps, "Wait-have you been kissed?!"

"Go to her," Michael tells him. It surprises Ashton.

"I thought you said being with a human is a bad idea."

"It is," Michael says surely, "but my words mean nothing to you, Ashton. You're a free spirit and you'll do what you want. I can't stop you."

 _ _My words mean nothing to you.__

That hurts Ashton. Michael's is his older brother and Michael has Ashton's respect. Ashton has always aspired to be like him.

Michael smirks at him, "Go, but make it quick. You need your rest."

Ashton grins before crossing his arms over his chest and thinking of summer thoughts.

He transports back to his apartment in Sheffield. Ashton goes to the door and-

"Ashton?" Sophie looks at him nervously from the other side of the door. She shakes her head, "Look, I-I should've. I'm sorry. I just assumed-and that was so wrong of me! God, please don't be ma-"

Ashton lunges her him and presses his lips against Sophie's. He's kissing Sophie and he likes it a lot. Sophie's lips are smooth like flower petals with a gentle force like a summer rain. Sophie gasps against Ashton's lips but her hands are planted on Ashton's upper chest, her fingers deeply rooted into his skin to keep him there. Ashton feels alive-he feels very humanlike for the first time ever and he desires more.

"Ashton," Sophie chuckles as she breaks off. Ashton frowns at her. Humans kiss if they like each other and Sophie kissed Ashton before so why did she back away? Sophie cups Ashton's cheek, the one without the sun on it, and softly looks at him, "There's no need to rush. We can take our time and get to know each other better."

"Will there be more kisses?" Ashton asks, wide eyed and curiously innocent.

Sophie scoffs fondly, "Only if you want there to be." Ashton blushes as a smile blooms on his lips.

"Yes, please," he requests shyly, "I, um, like kissing you a lot."

Sophie seems torn between smiling and frowning, "Then why did you run away earlier?" Ashton's chest sinks.

"I just, I wasn't expecting that," Ashton says honestly and Sophie laughs softly.

"I've been dropping hints that I like you since the first time I saw you."

Ashton eyes widen, "Really?" Sophie nods.

"God I thought you knew," Sophie admits and laughs, "I feel like a blabbering idiot whenever I'm around you. You do that to me Ashton."

"I'm sorry," Ashton mumbles softly Sophie chuckles and traces his cheekbone with her thumb.

"Don't be," Sophie says honestly, "I like that feeling, I really do."

Ashton blushes madly, "I, um. I like you too-a lot." That makes Sophie smile.

"I'm happy to hear that," Sophie confesses, her gaze dazed. Ashton feels like he's floating on his cloud bed-light and weightless. Sophie does this to him.

"I, um. I need to-goodnight," Ashton stutters. Sophie smiles.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Of course," Ashton answers quickly. On a whim he decides to kiss Sophie on the cheek, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sunshine," Sophie singsongs. Ashton laughs as his face burns bright red before going back into his apartment.

Later on when Ashton's back in his dome and tucked into his cloud bed, he can still feel Sophie's lips on his own. He wishes that the feeling will never go away.


	2. Chapter 2

July 7th

Ashton isn't dumb; he knows something isn't quite right.

After his night with Sophie and the carousal and the kissing, Ashton feels more drained then ever before. He awoke the next day only to still feel faint. So Ashton spends the day in his dome, revitalizing the essence of summer to the strongest degree. His brothers don't question it-Calum doesn't mind him any attention and Luke is all too thrilled to spend the day with Ashton. Mother was able to see him for a little bit before having to go to Earth to help the bees colonialize and multiple.

Michael makes side eyed glances at him, ones full of concern and questions, but he doesn't say anything to him all day. Ashton appreciates this greatly as he doesn't want another lecture from his winter brother.

Ashton wakes up the following morning and his mother requests his help her. Apparently there was a dry patch in China farmlands and there was a significant fire, ruining the soil for planting and any existing crops. So Mother needed Ashton's help in making the soil rich again and though Ashton wanted to say no and go be with Sophie instead, Ashton agreed. It was a nice day with his mother. Ashton used his hands and his powers given by nature to turn the dead soil into lush soil, ready for the farmers to plant and grow produce for the humans.

Ashton still has dirt under his finger nails the next day when he walks into Sophie's office. He's greeted by Hannah at the front desk.

"Hi Ashton!" She says to him, "How have you been?"

"Fine," Ashton tells her, "Is um-"

"Sophie's working on a project," Hannah informs him reluctantly.

"Oh," Ashton sighs discouraged.

"But," Hannah exclaims cheerfully, "Miss Pashley said that if you came into today I am to take you out to buy you a swimsuit or two."

Ashton frowns, "Swimsuit?" Hannah grins.

"Yes, Miss Pashley says she has plans for you two that require swimsuits," Hannah nudges Ashton's side playfully, "Lucky you, Ashton!"

Hannah takes his hand, along with Sophie's credit card, and walks out of the building.

"How about these?" Hannah asks, holding up some sort of human shorts like thing. Ashton studies the piece of clothing. It's green with purple spots on them. He shakes his head and Hannah sighs, "Ashton, I swear you're worse at picking out swimsuits then I am."

Ashton flushes, "I'm sorry."

"I'm only kidding Ashton," she tells him kindly, "Now, are you more of a speedo guy?"

"What's a speedo?" Ashton asks curiously. Hannah glares at him stoically before picking up something. Ashton's eyes bug out because there's hardly any fabric on that thing-that speedo thing, "Oh, um. No thank you."

"Alright then," Hannah moves over to a different section and Ashton follows, "Well, Miss Pashley said I need to get you at least two swimsuits. So we're staying here or going to other stores until we get you two swimsuits!"

Ashton throws his head back and groans. Being a human can be so boring sometimes.

It's well into the afternoon when Ashton and Hannah return to the office. Sophie's in the lobby waiting for them and Ashton runs up to him and kisses her right then and there.

"Whoa," Sophie draws back a few seconds later, a dazed smile laced on her lips.

"Hi," Ashton whispers. He likes kissing Sophie a lot. Sophie laughs and combs her fingers in Ashton's hair.

"I was hoping I'd see you today," she confesses and pulls Ashton in for a hug. The sway for a beat and Sophie leans in and tells Ashton, "I've missed you."

Ashton feels both flattered and guilty, "I'm sorry, Sophie. I was busy-"

"I know," Sophie assures him easily, "You had things to do and so did I but now we're together."

Ashton bits his lip cutely, "Yeah."

"So," Sophie hums lightly, her thumb stroking over Ashton's cheek where the painting of the sun once resided. He wore off in the middle of the night and never returned. Ashton was quite upset about this, "I took the rest of the afternoon off. We can do whatever we want."

Ashton grins happily, "Can we go on the carousal?"

"Of course we can sunshine."

When Ashton transports back home later on, his head is still spinning from going on the carousel countless times. But it's worth it, considering he spent hours with holding Sophie's hand and basking in the summer heat together.

July 19th

The middle of July comes faster then Ashton likes. Ashton doesn't see Sophie as much as he would want to.

He knows he can stay in Sheffield with Sophie but Ashton is also aware that he has an entire planet to look after as well. It's well into summer now and Ashton needs to keep an eye how summer is progressing in other places in the world.

It's weird, how Mother created Earth to be taller in some places then others. Like when Ashton went to Ecuador for the day. Because he was in the mountains, the summer wasn't has hot there then it is in Sheffield. And then there were places like Australia or Africa where the weather was too hot and made some vegetation die.

It really makes Ashton miss Sheffield more because the weather is just perfect there. Plus, Sophie's there which makes it Ashton's top choice.

"Are you able to spend the day with me?" Sophie asks while embracing Ashton. Ashton can hear Sophie pouting even if he can't see it because she's on his chest, "I haven't seen you in ages."

"You saw me yesterday!" Ashton reasons with a dopy smile on.

"Only for a couple of hours!" Sophie retorts sourly. And well, Sophie had a point. Ashton spent the day in the Artic to make sure the summer heat wasn't hurting the icecaps too much. And though Ashton's naturally hot like the sun, being in that environment drained him because it is so unnatural to Ashton. Snow is Michael's thing, not Ashton's. So by the time Ashton got to Sophie it was well into the afternoon and Ashton was exhausted. They walked around Sheffield some more and feed chucks of bread to some ducks in a river before Ashton told Sophie of his exhaustion and transported back home.

Ashton's still a little tired today, but he hopes that he can spend the day out in the sun to help him regain some of his energy.

"I can stay all day," Ashton tells her and it's worth it because Sophie's smile is bright and consuming.

"I know a place we can go," Sophie says slyly, "It's a bit of a drive from here, but it's totally worth it. I know you'd love it."

Ashton nods eagerly, "Okay."

Ashton's never been in a car before. He's seen them, of course he has, and he knows that humans use them to get from one place to the next. Mother described cars to Ashton when he was a young boy as the human version of transporting, but it's not as fast.

Ashton now, though, repeats Sophie's actions and secures a weird stripe of material across his body. Inside the car, it looks completely strange to Ashton. Nothing he sees makes sense to him, like the circle thing Sophie holds onto and spins in circles as they move on. But Ashton trusts Sophie, and the ride is calming and smooth. He notes that they're out of the city now and heading east.

Again, Ashton trusts Sophie. He trusts her so much that he falls asleep in the car.

"Ashton?" Ashton opens his eyes to Sophie's voice. Sophie smiles down at him, "We're here."

Sophie helps Ashton out of the car and the first thing that hits him is the scent of flowers, all kinds of flowers. Ashton looks around and confirms what he smells. Sophie brought him to some type of meadow and it stunning. The wildflowers come up to Ashton's knees and pops of yellow, white, pink and purple flowers are all around him. The sun is blazing hot and sky is clear and Ashton's surrounded by gorgeous flowers.

Ashton couldn't have made a better day if he tried.

"You and your flowers," Sophie remarks fondly a little while later. They're both among the wildflowers. Ashton's body is sprawled out with the cornflowers and the daisies. She has herhis head on Ashton's lap, who's sitting up and brushing Sophie's face with yellow verbena flower, "You look right at home here, with nature."

Ashton blushes and fights off the urge to say that he __is__ Mother Nature's son, after all.

"And the butterflies seem to like you too," Sophie points out. Ashton blinks and takes a look around him. It's the first time he's truly noticed the dozen or so butterflies fluttering around him. An orange butterfly lands on Ashton's shoulder and a white one grazes their wing on Ashton's cheek.

Ashton grins sheepishly at Sophie, "What can I say-animals love me."

Sophie chuckles as she leans up and fishes something out of the basket Sophie brought with her. Ashton stares at the sky and admires the heat of the sun on his face. He loves this, he loves being one with his true self. But most of all he loves being himself with Sophie. It must be a little obvious, Ashton thinks. Sophie must have noticed that Ashton loves the sun and the flowers and the heat. Maybe Sophie knows more then Ashton realizes.

A click goes off and Ashton looks down to Sophie. She has some weird looking device in her hands it's covering her face. Ashton looks at the black object and frowns at her.

"What's that?"

Sophie tells him, "It's a polaroid camera." Ashton bites back the, _"_ _ _what's a polaroid camera?"__ that's on the tip of his tongue. But something pops out of the device and Ashton watches as Sophie takes the white thing out. She shakes it and Sophie smiles at it before showing it to Ashton.

Ashton sees himself on the thing, doing what he was doing seconds before.

"Look how handsome you are," Sophie tells him and Ashton's too curious about this polaroid camera thing to grow insanely shy at Sophie's words.

"How do you use it?" Ashton questions, gesturing towards the device. Sophie scoffs and shows Ashton how to use the device.

Ashton learns just how pictures are made. He recalls Sophie talking about pictures when they were back at Sophie's home. He thought they were drawings but he was mistaken, clearly, since they're not drawing these things. Ashton points at something, clicks a button on the device and it pops out a picture!

Ashton is quite amazed by the polaroid camera. He takes handfuls of pictures of the gorgeous flowers all around them. And then Sophie laughs at him and tells Ashton how cute he his and then…well. Ashton turns the camera to Sophie and starts taking pictures of her.

"Hey!" Sophie whines and tries to grab the device, "Don't waste good film on me!"

Ashton doesn't know what "film" is or how it can be good or bad. But Ashton knows that if he's taking pictures of Sophie, then it's not being wasteful.

"You look beautiful," Ashton tells him before taking another picture of Sophie. Ashton can tell in the camera that Sophie is blushing before he clicks the magical button.

"Says the most beautiful being to ever walk the planet," Ashton blushes again and Sophie swoops in to kiss Ashton's cheek, "But that's kind of you to say that."

"It's true," Ashton retorts seriously. Sophie doesn't reply so he says and asks, "How do you even know this place? It's so quiet out here and no one's around."

Sophie remains quiet for a second before saying, "When my parents spilt up, my dad moved down here to start up the company I own now and my mom stayed in Rotherham," Ashton doesn't know how humans can spilt up but he knows it must not be a pleasant thing, based on Sophie's face, "I mainly lived with my mom but she would force me and my sisters to spend the summers with my dad.

"My dad worked too much and didn't hang out with us nearly as much has he should've. But me and my sisters ventured out on our own and I grew to love the city at a young age. One day, we discovered this place while my sister Megan was driving me and my other sister around. We just, hung out day after day here."

Sophie stops and smirks at Ashton, "I knew you would enjoy it too."

"Thank you for bringing me here," Ashton says. He links their hands together and kisses Sophie's fingers, "I do love it here."

"I have a feeling this will be the best summer ever!" Sophie gloats happily. She kisses Ashton softly and looks at him tenderly when she draws back. She whispers lowly, "And I have a feeling it will be because of you."

Ashton can't help but think that might not be true. Maybe once fall comes, Sophie will feel differently. For now, he takes in the smells of the flowers and special heat from Sophie's body that even the sun can't match up to.

July 27th

Ashton visits Sophie when he can. He makes sure to check on the summer in other places on Earth and see how the animals and plants are fairing in the summer heat. Ashton finds time here and there for Sophie, usually spending a few days a week with her. They usually spend time outside in the blazing heat and the sun. It's nice though, the little time they get to have together. Ashton just wishes it didn't have to be so little.

Ashton finds himself in Sophie's home on a rainy day in late July with a song playing on the record machine and Ashton capturing the fleeting moments he has with Sophie in pictures.

"Stop!" Sophie complains and tackles Ashton to the ground. Ashton is relentless and keeps snapping pictures of Sophie. Watson comes over to them and Sophie calls on him, "Watson! Quick-lick Ashton's face!"

Watson looks at both of them before laying down on his belly, bowing submission to Ashton. Ashton grins victoriously up at Sophie and takes another picture of Sophie's adorably confused face.

"Some dog," Sophie tuts. The camera makes another sound and Sophie frowns playfully at Ashton as another picture pops out of the camera, "Stop!"

Ashton giggles and this time lets Sophie take the camera from him. Sophie sets the camera on the table beside them and then Sophie hovers back over him. Sophie's it just too pretty, Ashton thinks, as he reaches his hand up to cup Sophie's jaw. Her jaw is so delicate and petite. Ashton so badly wants to tell Sophie that he's touched many mountain sides from mountains all over the world. Ashton's touched the clouds and nearly every blade of grass in the world. But nothing on Earth compares to touching Sophie.

Ashton's never touched anything in nature that compares to Sophie.

"Hi," Sophie grins and Ashton feels it in his palm.

Ashton smiles deeply up at her, "Hi."

Ashton brings her down for a scorching kiss. Sophie smirks into Ashton's lips before kissing him back. Ashton thinks he doesn't kiss Sophie nearly enough as he should. I likes kissing Sophie, he likes having Sophie as close as possible. Sophie pulls back and she has this goofy little grin on his lips that Ashton finds cute. Sophie tucks herself on Ashton's chest.

They stay there, on the floor, wrapped in each other's arms for Mother Earth knows how long but Ashton doesn't mind it. Ashton runs his hands up and down Sophie's back. Ashton giggles as Sophie's nose skims Ashton's neck.

"Sophie!" He squeals, "You're tickling me!"

Sophie shakes her head against Ashton, "I just don't get it."

"What?"

Sophie picks his head up and looks fondly upon Ashton, "You smell like sunshine," she tells him, "I mean, you always do, like all the time really. But it's been raining all day and you somehow still smell like sunshine."

Ashton's face falls slightly, "Oh?" Sophie laughs at him.

"It's a wonderful thing, Ashton," Sophie says, her fingers twirling around one of Ashton's curls, "I like it, a lot. I just am perplexed really."

Ashton shrugs and changes the subject, "What are we going to do with all these pictures?"

Sophie cocks an eyebrow at him, "Oh so you take hundreds of pictures and I'm stuck dealing with what to do with them?" Ashton laughs.

"Hey! I took great pictures!" Ashton pouts, "And I want the whole world to see!"

Sophie's chuckle against Ashton's body, "The whole world?" Ashton bites his lip and nods, "Would just me and Watson do?"

Ashton ponders on that for a bit before breaking out into a wide grin, "I guess so."

Sophie gets up and leaves the room without saying anything to Ashton. When she comes back in a bit later, Sophie is carrying a box in her hands. Watson goes over to Sophie to see what his owner has and Ashton sits up with interest. Sophie goes to the wall beside where the front door is. Ashton watches as Sophie takes items out of the box before turning to Ashton.

"Can you hold this string up?" and Ashton nods as he walks to the wall.

Ashton learns what string, clothespins, hammer and nails are fairly quickly. He helps Sophie nail in rows of string into the wall with a space in between each line. Ashton still has no idea what they're doing until Sophie smiles and hands him some of his pictures and what Sophie tells him are clothespins.

Ashton waits until Sophie puts a picture up to the string and keeps the picture on with the clothespin. Ashton gets excited now that he knows what they're doing and adds on more pictures to the string until that string is full. Sophie and Ashton quickly fill up all the strings with rows and rows of pictures-pictures that Ashton took of the sun and flowers and Sophie. It's a beautiful sight and he thanks Sophie with tender kisses.

"We still have all those to hang up," Ashton reminds Sophie of the pile of nearly hundred more pictures. Sophie scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Sunny, we'll hang those up another time," Sophie kisses his cheek and pulls Ashton into her side, "I have space on the walls in the hallway. We can easily fit all those pictures, plus all the ones the other pictures you're gonna take between now and then."

Ashton giggles and bites his lip, "Okay."

Before Ashton leaves Sophie with a few chaste kisses, he takes a picture from the pile. Of course it's one of Sophie but Ashton's in the picture too. It was one of them back in the meadow. They're looking fondly at each other with their faces creased with happiness and noses touching. Ashton's hand is on Sophie's cheek in the picture and there's a tiny white daisy tucked in Sophie's left ear.

It's Ashton's favorite picture and he so desperately wants to carry it everywhere with him.

The problem is Ashton cannot take Earthly processions back to his home.

Mother says it's because things that belong on Earth must stay on Earth and do not belong in within the cloud dwelling. Ashton used to think that made sense, but now as he looks down at the picture of him and Sophie, Ashton's not so sure anymore. He just wants something to remember Sophie by when they're hundreds of miles apart-why is that so wrong?

Ashton closes the door to his apartment and breathes in deeply. He focuses his attention on the picture and how badly he wants to bring it back to his dome. He sees the picture hanging from the branch above his bed and Ashton loves that image. He closes his eyes tightly and holds desperately onto the picture and thinks of summery thoughts.

When Ashton lands back in the clouds, his hands are empty and Ashton's dome is pouring with rain for the rest of the night.

August 15th

Ashton places the last seashell into the sand and steps back to look at his masterpiece.

The day has been beyond wonderful! Sophie took Ashton to the beach, which Ashton learns is just a fancy term for where the shore and the ocean meet. It must be a big deal for humans as there are lots of people on the beach for an early afternoon. But Ashton doesn't blame them for wanting to be here.

It's a gorgeous day! The sun bright and high in the sky with no clouds in sight. There's a little stickiness to the in air that sometimes is swept away when a salty breeze from the ocean sweeps up onto the shore. People are laughing and running in the hot sand and Ashton sits back to observe them. He smiles at them, knowing that it's his season that is making all these people so happy.

A pair of a sun kissed arms wrap around Ashton's bare torso. Ashton wraps his arms around Sophie's back, playing with the ends of her hair, lightly curled by the sea salt in the air.

"You made a heart out of seashells?" Sophie says curiously. Ashton smirks.

"Yes I did," he retorts playfully. Sophie laughs and kisses Ashton's neck.

"It's beautiful," Sophie mumbles into Ashton's skin, "Your heart is beautiful."

Ashton blushes madly just as Watson trots right through Ashton's seashell art.

"Hey!" Ashton gasps.

Sophie yells "Watson! Bad dog."

Watson doesn't react to Sophie's comment as she still has a dopy smile on his face. But then Watson looks over to Ashton and sees Ashton pouting and he changes instantly. Watson lowers his head in shame and whimpers loudly.

"Oh stop complaining Watson," Sophie scolds him slightly before turning to Ashton. She kisses Ashton's nose and is frowning when he pulls back, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Ashton smiles down at the dog and scratches behind his ear, "You're still a sweet dog, Watson."

Watson perks up at that and Sophie shakes his head.

"You're too good to him," Sophie comments and Ashton is appalled.

"You can't be too good to animals Sophie!"

Sophie chuckles fondly, "You're right," she sighs, "but Watson is a menace."

Ashton bites a smile back as Watson runs into the water as a wave crashes onto the beach.

"But he's so cute," Ashton reasons. Sophie snickers onto his shoulder; her hands gliding up Ashton's side.

"You're cute," Sophie tells him, "in your cute little yellow swimming trunks."

Ashton brushes madly, "Thank you. Yellow is my favorite color."

"I know it is, sunny."

As the sun journeys over the sky, Ashton stays close to Sophie as possible. He's feeling weak towards the end of the day, but he doesn't want to dwell on that too much. Ashton just can't leave, the day's been so perfect, and he doesn't want to leave yet.

So him and Sophie draw pictures into the sand, just silly little doodles that do nothing but make them laugh. They stroll until the beach and take pictures of the sea and all of its beauty. They leave footprints in the sand as they walk and Ashton wishes more then anything that their drawings and footprints could stay there forever.

Ashton wishes he can stay here with Sophie forever.

As the sun sets, Ashton's exhausted. He spent nearly a full day on Earth, amongst people and breathing in air that's just a little too thick then what he's used to back home. But it's worth it, Ashton thinks, as he rests his head on Sophie's shoulder and the sun starts to dissolve into the ocean in swirls of pinks and lavenders. But Ashton's also sad to see the sun go down. He plays with the idea of using his powers to reverse the day by a few hours, just so he can be with Sophie a little bit longer. But even the idea of lifting his hand up sounds too tiresome.

Maybe try that on another day.

"Are you sure you don't want a lick?" Sophie asks once more.

Sophie got something called an ice cream cone at one of the stands along the beach. Sophie has offered Ashton a bit of her food and if Ashton was being honest, it does look appealing. It's white and has little speaks of colors on top. Ashton's never had any kind of human food before but this ice cream cone thing does sound interesting…

"Sure," Ashton says and he sits up a little. Sophie smiles as she brings the ice cream to Ashton's mouth. So you lick it, hm? Ashton carefully licks the ice cream and-

Ashton recoils like a snake and looks at the food in horror. His body is trembling and a weird sensation spreads across Ashton's body. He's never felt this way before-it feels unnatural to him and he can't put a name on it. Ashton just doesn't feel as warm anymore…

"You're shaking," Sophie note slowly, "Come here, sunny."

Sophie gives the rest of his food to Watson and pulls Ashton into her arms. Ashton is cocooned in Sophie's hold, his back pressed to Sophie's chest and Sophie's legs wrapped around his. Ashton's still shivering and he doesn't know why, but Sophie's skin feels hot from being in the sun all day and he takes relief in that.

"So I'm never letting you have ice cream ever again," Sophie says seriously and Ashton manages a tiny laugh.

"Yeah…" he ponders before adding on, "It's just not my thing."

Sophie nods, "Duly noted," and then she says, "So, um. Next weekend I was thinking about taking my yacht out on the ocean. I can't believe it's August and I haven't taken Brielle out all summer yet."

"Brielle?" Ashton asks.

Sophie explains a chuckle, "That's what I named my yacht-Brielle the boat."

And that clears something up for Ashton-so a yacht is just a boat? Okay then.

"You named your boat Brielle?!" Ashton cries out. Sophie's laugh rumbles into Ashton's back.

"I couldn't think of anything better," Sophie admits. She nuzzles her head against Ashton's, "Anyway, the point is I thought it'd be nice to have a little weekend on the yacht, and I'd like you to come with me."

Ashton gulps thickly, "What?"

"Think about it, sunny-the open sea and plenty of sunshine, you and me on a gorgeous yacht for two days," Sophie sighs dreamily, "Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?"

Ashton stops and thinks about it.

Two straight days on Earth? Ashton's not sure if that's even possible. Even thinking about being on Earth for that long makes Ashton tense. He knows he will be drained within a few hours, especially if he's active and doing stuff-it'll just drain him out even more so.

No, Ashton knows he can't do this. It's too much, it could drain him into nonexistence! He knows he needs to make an excuse not to go-something, anything that sounds convincing enough.

But Sophie kisses Ashton's neck. Her hands dig into Ashton's sides and her lips hum into Ashton's skin.

"Please?" Sophie begs softly, with a little playfulness, "It'll be amazing, just the two of us. Doesn't that sound nice?"

The thing is, that does sound incredibly nice. Ashton wants that so bad.

"Okay," Ashton agrees heavily and he feels Sophie smirk into his neck.

"Perfect! I'll have to make sure the shipping yard prepares my yacht for next weekend! How about we leave late afternoon on Friday?"

Ashton makes himself nod despite the fear he's feeling, "Okay."

It's worth it, the risk and his fears, but Sophie squeezes Ashton as tight as she can and excitedly babbles on and on about all the fun they'll have.

It's worth everything just make Sophie happy.

August 24th

"Your face is all red," Ashton frowns as he cups Sophie's cheek.

Sophie chuckles, "Ashton, we spent all day at the beach on Monday! I'm surprised you're not sunburned."

Ashton's eyes widen-can the sun actually burn people? Surely not, Ashton thinks.

"The sun just likes me," Ashton says playfully and shrugs.

"Of course the sun does!" Sophie smirks, "Everyone loves you-even Hannah likes you and she hardly likes anyone!"

Ashton gasps, "I don't believe that! Hannah's amazing."

"She is," Sophie agrees, "But most of the time she doesn't let people see her true self."

Sophie thought it would be a good idea to have lunch outside and Ashton transported just in time to join her. It's a fair enough day, Ashton knows it'll rain in the afternoon and even if he wasn't the on in charge of summer, anyone could tell that it's gonna rain. There's pressure in the air, thick and musky air that is lingering low in the atmosphere. The thicker clouds slowly drifting in from the West is also a tall tale sign of what's to come. But Ashton gives it another hour before the rain will come.

It's nice though, just the two of them on a park bench talking and holding each other's hand.

Sophie sighs as her smile drops from her face, "I wish I didn't have to go back to work," she confesses, "I love being here with you but I'm trying to finish everything at work before our getaway this weekend." Ashton coos and kisses Sophie's cute little nose.

"I'm sorry."

Sophie shakes her head, "Don't be," she smirks while Ashton curls his fingers around Sophie's waist, "What's getting me through this is knowing how amazing our weekend will be." Ashton smiles and leans in to connect their lips. Sophie's grinning foolishly when they separate.

But then Sophie's stupid, awful cellphone thingy trills and Sophie groans.

"God, I can't even have a peaceful lunch," she sighs and looks at Ashton woefully, "I'm sorry sunny. But I have a ton of work to get done."

"I get it," Ashton kisses Sophie swiftly, "You do what you need to." Sophie sighs and fondly looks at him, her finger wrapping around of strand of Ashton's hair.

"What did I do to deserve you?" she smirks and Ashton feels his stomach dancing, "Three more days sunshine, and then I'm all yours."

Ashton nods stiffly and grins, "Two more days."

When he transports back home after dropping Sophie back at her office, Ashton wasn't expecting to see Luke waiting for him.

"Luke?" Ashton asks because Luke looks stunned. His dark blue eyes that mimic the ocean are wide and confused and can't seem to look at Ashton at all.

Finally, Luke speaks up, "I um-I'm working on new breeds of flowers with mother-as you know. And um, I had a great idea to mix up peonies with dandelions and I wanted to tell you but you weren't in your dome," he looks at Ashton then, his lips slack and face shell-shocked, "So I looked for you in the Vision Cloud."

Ashton's stomach drops.

"You were," Luke shakes his head, "Y-You were with a human-a __girl__. And-she had her, and you had your-" Luke tilts his head and looks helplessly perplexed at Ashton, "Your lips were touching his lips…why were your lips touching, Ashton?"

Ashton doesn't even have time to dwell on the sensation of guilt that crashes into the pit of his core because Michael is dragging them away.

"Not here," Michael hisses to Luke as he takes them towards Luke's dome.

Ashton knows that there he'll have to tell Luke everything.

"So," Luke breathes out, his face hardened with uncertainty, "You and this Sophie girl-you two are like-"

Ashton can't put a name on what he has with Sophie. He's not sure if humans even have a word for whatever he has with Sophie.

"She's my Sophie," Ashton says softly and can't fight back the tiny smile that stretches on his mouth, "And she calls me her sunshine."

Luke grows intensely happy at that, "Aw!" Michael rolls his eyes.

"I think humans would call it a girlfriend," Ashton's eyes widen with interest so Michael farther explains, "Like, if two humans are together they're either boyfriends or girlfriends. Sounds like Sophie's your girlfriend and you're her boyfriend."

Ashton doesn't know why but the term boyfriend makes him all giddy.

"Does she know about you?" Luke questions and Ashton shrugs before admitting.

"She keeps…saying these things." Michael looks at his summer brother scolding him with his gaze.

"What?!"

Ashton sighs, "Sophie says I smell like sunshine and she calls me sunny or sunshine usually," he blushes at that before going on, "And like-we were in a meadow recently and all these butterflies were on me and Sophie made a comment. Then one time she complimented me and it just made so happy that dandelions popped up from the ground and Sophie noticed it."

"Ashton," Michael chides, shaking his head.

Luke blinks, "That's not so bad Ashton," he reasons. Ashton weakly shrugs at that, "I mean, Sophie sounds nice-"

"It doesn't matter how nice she is, Luke," Michael says before turning to Ashton, "You know how I feel about all this, Ashton. And it's better for both of you guys if you just stop this now!"

"Wait-Michael you knew about this Sophie girl?!" Luke asks accusingly. Ashton sees the bit of betrayal in his brother's eyes.

Michael rolls his eyes, "Unfortunately, yes. I've known since the second week of summer."

At that admission, Luke's dome grows dark with deep gray clouds and the flowers all around them wilt noticeably. Ashton feels guilt settle into his gut; Michael sighs carelessly.

"Luke, please. I forced Ashton to tell me, he didn't fess up about Sophie willingly."

"It's true!" Ashton adds on quickly and sits by Luke's side, "I would have told you eventually!"

Luke looks at him carefully, "Would you have, though?"

Ashton purses his lips and looks away.

"Okay," Michael speaks up and briskly heads towards the door, "It's getting too hot in here for my taste. I'll let you two be."

It takes a while after Michael leaves Luke's dome for Ashton to admit, "I'm…not sure if I would've told you or anyone about Sophie for that matter."

The clouds thicken within the dome and hard pellets of rain drop land on Ashton's arms.

Ashton sighs, "Luke-"

"You're my best friend, Ashton," Luke confesses somberly. He looks up at his summer brother, eyes misty like morning dew in the grass, "We've always been close, because we're so similar. Michael and Calum are close and we've been left out of their adventures. And I was okay with that, because we've had our own adventures too. We did everything together-kick clouds together, watch the sun come over the moon, make flower crowns. We made up silly stories about humans-not having any idea who or what they were other then things that live on Mother's planet."

Ashton fondly looks back on those days with a lopsided grin. They were so young back then, completely unaware of what was to come for them, all of their responsibilities and whatnot. They were two young, carefree little boys with special powers to rule an entire season. They can move clouds; they command the sun and the moon to rise and fall. They plan the course of a whole season and yet neither one of them knew just how amazing having these powers one day would mean to them, how much it would change them.

"We told each other everything," Luke goes on with a sad smirk, "I just-I figured you would have told me something like this. You've been really happy lately and I've been wondering why-now I guess I know it's because of this Sophie person."

Ashton sighs and his shoulders wilt, "I'm sorry, Luke. I just-Michael's older and he found out and was all mad about it. I just-I wasn't deliberately trying to keep this from you. It just happened. I'm sorry, Luke."

Luke doesn't look convinced at all so Ashton scrambles for something to make Luke happy.

"Look-I'll tell you something Michael doesn't know," Ashton promises him. Luke perks up and eagerly looks at his summer brother.

"Really?!" Luke all but squeals in delight and the environment shifts a bit. There's the sun once more, tucked behind a few clouds. Ashton giggles as he nods.

"Yes, but don tell anyone! Especially mother."

Luke grows serious and nods firmly, "I swear on every one of Mother's flowers I will not tell."

And-wow. That's a serious promise for sure.

"Okay," Ashton caves and an excited smile takes over his face, "Sophie has this thing called a yacht-it's basically a boat, I guess-maybe bigger? I don't know. Anyway, Sophie invited me to stay on her boat this weekend and I said yes!"

Ashton's expecting to see Luke to be happy for him.

Instead, Luke's jaw drops.

"Two days on Earth- _ _two entire days?!"__ Luke shakes his head and looks concerned, "Ashton, I don't think that's a good idea. I've never gone longer then ten hours before."

Ashton's smile drops and he thinks on that, "…Neither have I," he confesses but then is quick to add on, "But I'll be outside most of time, if we're on a boat. So maybe it won't be so bad?"

"Ashton," Luke says lowly, voice heavy with worry, "I don't think you should go."

"But-it's Sophie Luke! I have to go!"

Luke reminds him, "But you'll get drained and I dunno what will happen to you but it sounds bad and Mother says it is bad and-no. Ashton you can't go."

Ashton frowns down at the flowers beneath him that are trembling with what Ashton thinks is Luke's fear. He sighs before admitting.

"There's only a month left of summer, Luke," he says and that terrifies Ashton. He swallows thickly and goes on, "I need all the time I can get with Sophie. So I don't care if being on Earth for too long drains me up. I-I have to do this, and no matter what you say or do it's not going to stop me."

Ashton figures Luke would be mad at him. But Luke hugs Ashton closely to him, as tight as he can.

"Oh Ashton," he hums into Ashton's ear, "You really care for Sophie don't you?"

Ashton nods and confesses weakly, "More then anything-more then myself."

Luke pulls back and looks at his brother dead on, "Then I won't tell anyone about this, Ashton. I promise I won't." A shaky smile stretches over Ashton's lips.

"Thanks, Luke."

A little while later the two of them are leaving Luke's dome with flower crowns made of daisies on their heads and Ashton whispers a late minute secret about Sophie to his spring brother. Ashton told him every cute thing Sophie's ever said and done and Luke has cooed at every bit of information.

Calum is walking past them and frowns suspiciously at them. Ashton and Luke stop their quiet conversation.

"What are you two up to?" The fall brother confronts them. Luke is quick to reply.

"Nothing!" he states, voice painfully higher then normal-so much so it makes Ashton wince. Ashton glances from the corner of his eye and sees Luke pasting on a huge grin, "What are you up to, Calum?"

Calum looks curiously at Ashton for a few slow seconds before a slow smirk curls over his lips. His dark ember eyes are gleaming with delight, "Just going over some front patterns for my season."

Ashton's face drops; Luke keeps the awkward conversation alive, "Oh?"

"Yeah," Calum nods and flashes anther smile towards Ashton, "Isn't crazy how fast the seasons go by? Why, there's only a month left of summer and then it'll be fall already!"

Ashton mentally sends hailstones in the back of Calum's head as his fall brother walks away with an odd pip in his step. Usually Calum's never happy, ever, and Ashton knows that Calum is playing this act just to mess with him. And Ashton lets Calum mess with him and Ashton knows he shouldn't but Calum is terrifying.

Luke shakes his head beside Ashton, "He's the worst! He's a sudden rainstorm on a perfect sunny day. He's like a bitter frost that kills innocent plants in the middle of the night! He's-" Ashton's laugh cuts Luke off. The summer brother wraps his arm around the spring brother's shoulder.

"Luke its fine!" he insists.

Ashton thinks about how he'll spend two full days with Sophie. He focuses on that as best as he can, instead of focusing on what might happen to him.

August 27th

Ashton meets Sophie outside of Sophie's office. He was told to bring clothes, swim trunks and some shoes too. So Ashton shows up to Sophie's office with an arm full of his clothes. When Sophie sees him, she has a perplexed but bemused look on his face as she leans in to kiss Ashton.

"Why are you holding your clothes?" Sophie asks him and Ashton's smile drops. He must have done something wrong, "Where's your suitcase?"

Ashton's quick to tell her, "I don't have a suitcase."

"Right," Sophie says, sounding very guilty. She shakes her head, "Of course-I should've known. Here, I have plenty of space in my duffle bag."

Sophie shrugs off the tubular looking thing off her shoulder and plops it on the ground. Ashton stands over it and watches Sophie opening this duffle bag up. He hands Sophie his clothes just as Hannah comes bouncing up to him.

"Ashton," Hannah greets him happily with a side hug, "I have to thank you for agreeing to go on this little vacation! Miss Pashley has been so excited for this that she gave us the rest of the day off!"

Ashton's not sure why this is a good thing, but he smiles anyway, "That's great!"

"Though I do have to dog sit Watson for the weekend," Hannah looks over at Sophie and proceeds to vigorously eye roll. Sophie laugh laughs her off.

"You're getting paid way more then my past dog sitters," Hannah waves her hand at that, making Ashton giggle slightly.

"If that beast you call a dog eats anything-anything at all I'm sending him to a kennel."

Sophie scoffs at Hannah as she struts away, "Take Watson on his morning walks at six! And he's a cuddlier so beware!" Ashton laughs and Sophie glares at him playfully, "Hey you."

"Hi," Ashton breathes out. Sophie hums as her lips touch Ashton's for a chaste kiss.

"I'm so excited for this weekend," Sophie confesses when she draws back. Her fingers trace up Ashton's arm, leaving a tingling trail in their wake and Ashton's slightly breathless from it.

But Ashton snaps out of his trance. He needs to keep his strength up for the weekend.

Ashton swears on the Sun and all the stars that he will make it through this weekend with no problems.

The boat is…large, very large. The boat, or Brielle as Sophie keeps reminding Ashton, is white and has very comfy seats. It looks nice and shiny-Ashton's never seen a boat quite like this before.

Ashton stands at the back of the boat and watches the city of Sheffield disappear as they take off. It's strange-Ashton knows that they're moving and yet he feels steady on the boat. It's a bit loud as the boat speeds through the wind. The waves hit the side of the boat as the glide through the water and the lowering sun is beating down on his face. Ashton thinks this is all amazing and he doesn't know why humans just live on boats.

After Sophie sails for a bit, she makes the boat stop. She joins Ashton at the front of the boat and she wraps his arms around Ashton's front and kisses Ashton's chest.

"Ashton?" she whispers perplexed, "Are those dolphins?"

Ashton looks at the three cute dolphins peaking up through the water beside the boat and grins, "Yep," he says easily and Sophie just nods.

"That's so awesome!" she replies and Ashton giggles at her enthusiasm. Sophie kisses the side of Ashton's neck and the two listen to the dolphins squeal in the water.

Ashton hasn't spent much time with aquatic animals as he should.

They sit and Sophie cracks open a bottle of something called champagne just as the sun is starting to set. She pours the pink-ish liquid into a glass and hands it to Ashton.

"Oh um-no thanks," Ashton says weakly. Sophie's smile drops.

"Do you not like champagne?" he asks in a panic, "I think I have some wine too. Would you like that instead?"

And Ashton knows that Sophie is star-bent on giving Ashton something to drink and he can't talk his way out of this one.

So he smiles tightly at Sophie, "Actually, I'll have some champagne." He tries to sound happy and pronounce that strange word properly. Fortunately, Sophie beams at this and pours Ashton a glass.

Ashton watches from the corner of his eye and repeats Sophie's actions. She raises the glass to her lip and tilts her head back, making whatever is in said glass fall into her mouth. Ashton's seen Sophie and plenty of other humans drink before but Ashton just wants to make sure he's doing this right.

The champagne is something that Ashton doesn't expect. He isn't sure what he thought champagne would be like since taste is the one thing Ashton and his brothers and mother is the one human sense that they don't experience all that often. He's pretty sure Luke hasn't eaten or drunk any human foods but Michael? Ashton's not sure if his winter brother has.

But the champagne leaves a trail of airy-like affects on his tongue and Ashton's delighted by this. He feels lighter then air after the first sip and Ashton thinks that taste wise its okay-it's better then that weird ice cream thing he tried.

Ashton happily drinks up everything in the glass in two sips.

Sophie laughs at him, "Whoa, easy there Ashton!"

"I like this," Ashton comments, suddenly feeling a bit chipper then before. Sophie fondly rolls her eyes at him.

"I can see that sunshine," Sophie sets her glass down and crawls under Ashton's ar, to watch the sun drop off the face of the Earth.

As the moon comes up, Ashton sweet talks Sophie into pouring him another glass of champagne and Sophie is eager to please him. More warm, fuzzy feelings settle into the pit of Ashton's gut. His hands seem to find Sophie's waist and his lips never leave Sophie's skin. And he just can't stop giggling! Everything is a delight to Ashton and he just can't help himself.

"It's so pretty," Ashton babbles on, his eyes stuck on the zillions of stars above them. He shakes his head in awe with Sophie's head on his chest, "I've never really get to see the stars from here."

Ashton's hazy mind suddenly goes clear and he realizes the epic mistake he's made.

Sophie chuckles at the comment.

"What? You mean out here in the ocean?" she asks curiously. Ashton freezes before everything goes silly again. He laughs hard into Sophie's hair and smirks.

"Oh Sophie," he muses playfully, his finger tapping on Sophie's chin, "You are so precious, like a precious little furry bunny." Ashton watches as Sophie tilts her head back and chuckles fondly but Ashton doesn't get it, "What?! It's the truth!" he insists with a pout.

Sophie's eyes are just so lovely in the moonlight-so pretty and big and very, very pretty.

"You're pretty," Ashton confesses in a wonderstruck tone. He mumbles softly, "My pretty girlfriend."

The last thing Ashton sees, before the weight of being on Earth for a significant time takes over him and he drifts to sleep with Sophie's in his arms, is Sophie turning redder then a rose in full bloom with a wide grin on her lips.

August 28th

"Come on in!" Sophie yells as she floats within the ocean a few feet away from the boat.

Ashton timidly looks at the murky waters from his spot at the deck of the boat. Sophie laughs at his worrisome look.

"Ashton it's so warm!" Sophie tells him excitedly, "Jump in! Jump towards me!"

Ashton nervously curls his hands under the hem of his black and red striped swimming trunks. The thing is, Ashton knows that there's nothing really to be afraid of. He knows all sorts of wonderful creatures live in the ocean. And yeah there are big scary animals that swim in the ocean too, but Sophie wouldn't bring him to a part of the ocean if it was infested with sharks. Plus, sharks wouldn't hurt Ashton since he's Mother Earth's son and all. It's just Ashton doesn't like the fact that he can't see what's in the water-it's all dark blue and scary.

Sophie picks up on Ashton's hesitation again and kindly reminds him, "Sunny, I'm right here, okay? Everything's fine, I promise."

Everything's fine, okay-Sophie said so.

Ashton jumps in.

His plummets under the water and flails his arms about until his heads pops up to the surface. Ashton gasps and desperately moves his arms about to keep himself up. He feels himself being pulled back under-

But

Sophie's there thankfully.

"Hey, hey," Sophie softly, her firm hands wrapped on Ashton's shoulder. Ashton's trembling as he curls into Sophie's chest like a koala bear to a tree and wraps his legs around Sophie's sides though Sophie's skin is slippery and wet and tinier than Ashton is. He tries to catch his breath and settle his rapid heartbeat. Sophie's kisses to his scalp help a lot, "Sunny, breathe more for me."

Ashton sniffles, "I-I'm sorry."

"Ashton, why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?" Sophie asks him seriously. Ashton wants to reply honestly; that Mother said that only fish needed to swim so he never saw the need to learn how to do something that fish do. But people swim as well, Ashton's seen humans swim in the ocean before while at the beach. He was interested in the activity but never imagined he'd be in the water one day!

Instead Ashton shrug lamely and sighs as he says, "I never learned how to swim."

"Oh sunny," Sophie glooms kisses Ashton's neck, "I wish you would've told me this. I wouldn't have pressured you into jumping in."

"I didn't want to ruin our trip," Ashton tells him sadly. Sophie must think he's silly or something because she laughs kindly. But Ashton doesn't think it's funny at all.

"You wouldn't have ruined this trip, Ashton," Sophie's hold tightens on Ashton's body, "We could just sit on the deck all day and hang out in the sunshine. Or-" she stops abruptly and a slow grin flourishes from his lips, "Ashton, sunny-put your legs down."

Ashton frowns and questions, "What?"

"Just do it," Sophie says with a giggle in his voice. Ashton trusts him completely, without thought, so he lowers his legs off of Sophie's body and wraps his arms loosely around his neck. He points out his toes and-

"Oh!" Ashton gasps and then chuckles lightly. Sophie grins happily.

"There are fish swimming under us!" Sophie exclaims, "They've come to see you Ashton."

Ashton suddenly feels like he's sinking again. He lowly and seriously asks, "How'd you know?" Sophie scoffs.

"Because," he says plainly, "You draw a crowd wherever you go-everything from two legged mammals to those with four legs."

Phew! Ashton breathes out in relief. So he hasn't revealed true self after all.

"Don't forget those with fins," Ashton retorts playfully with a lazy smile curling over his lips, "and those with wings as well."

"Oh no!" Sophie agrees, "We can't forget about our finned and winged friends, can we?"

They share a laugh, one where Sophie's eyes are creased and she looks way too delighted.

"You know, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable," Sophie tells him a second later, her nose brushing against Ashton's, "We can go back to the boat."

Ashton finds himself saying, "No. Um, I mean-it's kinda nice? Like, us floating like this-this is nice. I like it-we can stay like this."

So they stay in the ocean, with tiny flakes of sea salt in their noses and eyes. The sun reflects off the waters around them and sunlight glistens all around them. Their cheeks sting from smiling so much and Sophie twirls Ashton around in the water as the afternoon drifts away.

They watch the sun set from the back dock of the boat later on. It's gorgeous, with swirls of pinks and orange reflecting in the waters far away. Ashton can watch the sunrise and the sunset every day, especial with his arms wrapped around Sophie from behind.

It's perfect, but it somehow gets better.

"I got you something," Sophie tells him. They're in dry clothes now, with Ashton wearing a long sleeved shirt and a pair of jean shorts. The moon is high above them and the stars are out again. Tonight there are a few clouds in the sky but Ashton has no concern over that. What is puzzling him is just what Sophie means that she has something for him?

"Oh?" he asks curiously. Sophie nods and links their hands together. She leads Ashton to the back of the cabin in the boat, which is where the bedroom is. Ashton looks at the mattress with heavy eyes. He's exhausted-more frail and weaker then he's ever felt before. But today has been amazing and Ashton doesn't want to think about his tiredness. He won't let it ruin these final hours of their time together.

Sophie sets Ashton down on the edge of the mattress. Ashton watches Sophie move to her duffle bag and pulls something out of it. She's being awfully secretive and keeps a coy grin on her face as she keeps his hands behind her back.

"Sophie!" Ashton's whine turns into a giggle, "what have you got for me?"

Sophie sinks to her knees and wiggles to the spot in between Ashton's knees. Ashton's heart clinches when Sophie drops a kiss to Ashton's thigh before looking up at him with soft eyes.

"I know we haven't known each other for that long," Sophie admits, "but I feel like-I dunno, Ashton. You are so different-so, so lovely. I can't-you're just simply amazing, way too good for me."

Sadness aches in Ashton's chest, "Sop-"

"I know I'm saying a lot right now-maybe too much. But couldn't, I just had to show you how much I can for you. I'll always care for you, no matter what."

With that, Sophie moves her hand in front of him.

It's a sun, a tiny glittery sun on some sort of chain. It's stunning, truly stunning and Ashton isn't sure how to respond.

"You're my sunshine, Ash," Sophie tells him, "And I wanted to show you how much I love you."

I love you.

For some odd reason, Ashton's heart flips around in his chest at those words. Maybe it's the way that Sophie said them with such conviction yet tender at the same time. Maybe it's the way Sophie's looking at him now, with wide and gentle eyes and an elegant smile on her lips. Or perhaps it's the fact that Sophie's telling him that she loves him. Maybe that's what has Ashton feeling like he's levitating on the clouds back home.

"I love you too, Sophie," Ashton finally says. Ashton knows he's said the right thing because Sophie smile is like staring into the face of the sun-all bright and incredibly beautiful.

"Really?!" Ashton nods sheepishly, "Oh sunny! You don't realize how happy I am to hear that."

She kisses Ashton swiftly, making Ashton topple backwards onto the mattress. Ashton giggles into her lips and relishes in the feeling of being cocooned like a caterpillar in transformation by the one thing he cherishes more then his beloved season.

Sophie pulls back eventually and her smile is still blazing, "I love you."

"I love you," Ashton repeats, because it just feels right.

Sophie chuckles, her eyes still shining, "I should put this necklace on you, hm?"

She pulls Ashton back up from the mattress. They sit with their legs laced together as Sophie puts the necklace over Ashton's head. Ashton beams down at the glimmering sun hanging against his chest.

"Thank you Sophie," he says softly, and fails to stifle a yawn.

Sophie smirks at him knowingly, "My pleasure sunny. Now lets go to bed, you look so tired."

Ashton drifts off to sleep quickly with Sophie's head pillowed on his chest and the sun tangling from his neck.

August 28th

Ashton's startled awake rudely.

He wakes up in a panic and looks around him. There's rain pounding against the windows. The boat is tossing around like a small bird in a gust of wind. Lightening strikes outside of the boat and thunder claps, making the boat jolt in the water.

Ashton braces himself on the headboard. He finds Sophie, on the other side of the bed on the ground as well.

"Sophie!" He yells. Ashton watches as Sophie startles awake and sees the fear in Sophie's face that Ashton's feeling too. Sophie jumps up and struggles to reach Ashton as the boat takes a harsh jolt.

When Sophie gets to him, she cups Ashton's cheek, "Are you okay?" Ashton nods timidly, "I-It'll be okay Ashton-it's just a passing storm. I need to stir the boat, okay? Everything's fine sunny."

Ashton knows Sophie's wrong, but he nods tightly for Sophie's own good. Sophie moves to the front of the boat and Ashton holds onto the sides of the door that leads to the back deck. He squints to watch the dark clouds in the sky swirling about. A beaming bolt of lightening hits on the water not too far from the boat and Ashton jumps back from it along with the loud thunder that comes with it.

No, Ashton thinks desperately. It wasn't supposed to rain at all this weekend-Ashton was sure of it.

Ashton gasps-he did this. He made this storm, he did this.

Sophie's struggling to keep the boat tamed. Ashton closes his eyes and breathes in and out. Sophie's trying her best but she can't-she can't beat the winds that are whistling around them. The winds are strong, the rain is heavy and the lightening is terrifying.

Ashton should know; he's brought this on upon Sophie.

He just can't stand here holding onto the door; not when Sophie's trying her hardest to fight the elements and save them from it.

Ashton wonders if…no. He couldn't. He's moved small clouds before with no problem but moving an entire storm front is another game. Ashton's never done something like that before. Storm fronts are large and powerful and Ashton is weakened by the Earth. No, we can't do such a thing.

But Ashton concludes that he has to try.

Piercing raindrops hit Ashton in the face when he walks onto the deck, making him drenched in an instant. The boat sways harshly to the right and Ashton grabs onto the railing to brace himself. He stares up at the eye of the storm with fear in his eyes. The storm must sense he's scared because a rippling of thunder spreads across the sky. Lightening moves along with it likes the veins that run up Sophie's arms that Ashton's followed with his finger countless times before.

Ashton breathes in deeply and calms himself down. He looks at the boisterous clouds high up in the early morning sky. He trains his gaze on them, and focuses his thoughts. He silently commands them to move every fiber of his being. He's shaking profusely and feels incredibly weak standing amongst the storm he's created but he remains calm. He thinks about the most summer-y thoughts his hazy mind can muster up. Most of those thoughts include Sophie in them, because Sophie loves him and Ashton loves Sophie.

Ashton can feel it when the storm starts to move away. Ashton breathes a quick breath of relief and keeps his mind on the passing storm. The raindrops become less harsh on his skin and eventually, it's not raining anymore. The boat settles into a gentle rocking motion and Ashton's chest fills with air. He opens his eyes and sees the glorious sight of tinny tiny stars scattered over the sky, with hazes of pinks and orange spreading over the eastern horizon.

Ashton smiles at the sight before collapsing onto the deck.

When Ashton reopens his eyes, Sophie's face is pressed up against his, their noses slightly touching. Sophie's eyes are large with concern and perhaps fear, Ashton isn't sure.

"Hey sunny," Sophie whispers, eyes studying him closely, "Are you alright? You blacked out for a bit there. I was so worried."

Ashton blinks before nodding quickly, "Yeah, I'm fine." He insists, but Sophie doesn't seem to believe him.

"Sunny, why were you on the dock during the storm?" Ashton swallows thickly, as his tired mind scrambles for ideas.

"The door flung open," he says, "The boat moved roughly and I just, sorta fell out and hit my head." Ashton barely believes his own story.

Sophie bites her lip and nods stiffly, "Poor thing," she leans down and kisses Ashton's cheek. She pulls back, her hand still in Ashton's curls and her face holds a soft, fond gaze, "I'm so sorry Sunny. I should've checked the forecast more often. I checked before I left and I swear it wasn't supposed to rain."

Ashton swallows thickly, "It's okay. These things pop up out of nowhere-no way to predict storms like that."

Ashton's the one way-the one thing that knows everything that summer has to offer. Ashton is the one thing that could've seen a storm like that coming eons away. But Ashton was careless, too wrapped up in Sophie and the dwindling hours of summer he has left with her.

Ashton is so foolish. Sophie could've gotten hurt, all because Ashton had forgotten that he made a pop-up storm.

"I guess you're right," Sophie shrugs and looks away. It's then that Ashton realizes their in the small room with the wheel that moves the boat. The sun is coming over the sky now, it greets Ashton with its glaring rays that he loves so much. But it's not enough to lift his sinking spirits. He's tired, eyes heavy and it's like his body is aching to be back in his dome in the clouds.

But Sophie.

"We're almost back home now," Sophie tells him, "We can hang out all day."

Ashton finds himself weakly shaking his head, his eyes crossing, "Sophie? That sounds nice but I can't hang out with you today."

Ashton's not expecting Sophie to sigh in anguish, "Sunny is this about the storm? I'm sorry, darling, I was dumb and should've looked at the weather reports. Please don't be mad at me."

Ashton's not mad at her at all is the thing. He's so mad at himself that he can't even look at Sophie. Sophie hasn't failed him; Ashton's failed Sophie.

"Sophie I just-" Ashton sighs heavily, "I'm so tired is all. I'll sleep all day and like-that's not fair to you."

Glancing up from where his head is on Sophie's lap, Ashton sees Sophie's jaw tightens as she nods and mumbles, "Okay."

Ashton feels defeated in so many ways when they reach the shore. Sophie hasn't said anything to him a bit, but she still helps Ashton off the boat and not the dock. Ashton nearly topples over when he's on land and forced to move on his own merit. He's just exhausted; he's never felt this way before.

"You okay?" Sophie asks again, her hand steadying Ashton.

"Yeah," Ashton's reply is quick, and rather nippy. But his head hurts and his joints ache and his body is pleading for him to go back home.

Sophie nods tightly and looks a little hurt as she lets Ashton go, "Alright. I'll, um-see ya around?"

"Of course," Ashton smiles feebly at her and reminds her softly, "I love you Sophie."

That earns a fond scoff from Sophie and a dazzling smile, "I love you too, Sunny."

Ashton grins into a gentle kiss onto Sophie's lips. He holds his breath until Sophie is out of sight and Ashton drags himself over to a deserted part of the dock. He moves behind a building and proceeds to cross his arms over his chest and thinks tirelessly of summer thoughts.

His feet barely touch the pillow-y ground of the clouds before he passes out once again.

September 2nd

Ashton still feels exhausted when he wakes up days later.

He finds himself in his cloud-bed; his dome surrounding him is muggy with a hazy fog settling low to the ground. Ashton knows he's been asleep for a while, but he still aches for slumber deep in his bones. He feels as though he can sleep for days and as nice as that sounds, a flash of Sophie's golden smile comes over his mind. His days with the human are already numbered so low, he can't afford to miss anymore days with him. But he's just so tired.

Ashton sits up and stretches as he stifles a yawn as a slight weight hits the center of his chest. He looks down and-

It's the necklace that Sophie gave him. The light in Ashton's dome reflects off the shiny sun shaped pendant and sparkles. He ahs no idea how he was able to bring his necklace to his realm but somehow it's here, proudly dangling over Ashton's chest. His heart swells at the sight of it, his mind fondly remembering the wonderful human man who gave him this piece.

He loves Sophie. He might not know what that fully means, but Ashton knows he loves Sophie completely.

There's a knock on the door to his dome and Ashton scrambles to hide his necklace under his robe. Just as the necklace is out of sight, Luke comes into Ashton's dome.

Michael is close behind him, looking clearly angry.

Ashton's glare moves to his spring brother, "You told him didn't you?"

"He didn't have to, Ashton," Michael replies sternly and then tells his youngest brother, "I was the one who found you passed out outside your dome. I dragged you in here and made Luke tell me hat exactly you did."

Luke nibbles on his lip nervously, "Yeah, A. I'm sorry, but I had to! You looked…so weak. I thought that you were-" Luke stops himself and Ashton's grateful for it. He can't imagine what Luke was going to say would be anything pleasant, "I saw what you did on Earth. Ashton that was incredibly dangerous!"

"What was I supposed to do?!" Ashton reasons, "It was bad out there-I forgot I made that storm and then," Ashton gulps, "Sophie could've gotten hurt. I did it to save her."

Michael sighs as he paces through the flowers drenched with morning dew, "So you moved an entire storm front for a human?" Ashton frowns at his brother.

"Not just any human," Ashton's quick to remind him, "I did it for Sophie. Because I love Sophie."

Michael's face drops at this bit of information, "You're in love this girl?" Ashton nods sternly.

"I wouldn't drain myself completely for her if I didn't love her."

Luke wearily looks back and forth between his brothers, "What's in mean to be in love?" and well, Ashton would like to know what love means as well. Michael doesn't look away from Ashton as he explains.

"Humans love all sorts of other humans in their loves, like their friends and family members. But, to be in love with someone is completely different. Love is like the deepest admiration for that being. No matter what happens, the beings in love stay with each other. They do anything for them, because they're bonded at the deepest level. Beings in love believe that they will spend the rest of their days in love with that other being. Animals can feel or express this kind of love, as it's not in their nature to. Only humans can love."

As the words sink in, Ashton knows for sure now: he does love Sophie.

"So Ashton draining himself for Sophie was an act of love?" Luke concludes. Michael nods stiffly.

"Apparently," he huffs and adds on, "Autumn is coming, Ashton-no matter how much you love this Sophie girl, it's not gonna stop what comes naturally."

There's a heavy weight on Ashton's chest, "I know that."

"I don't think you do, Ashton!" Michael laments, "What are you gonna do about this?! Are you gonna tell her the truth and hope that she believes you? Or are you just gonna disappear when autumn comes and let Sophie think you've left her?"

Ashton doesn't want to think about the first day of autumn creeping up. It means his time on Earth is over for now, that summer is over. It means that he can't see his beloved Sophie anymore. Just the thought of not experiencing summer with Sophie makes tears swell in his eyes.

"Michael," Luke chides his wintery brother as his sits besides Ashton, "You made Ashton upset."

Michael merely shrugs at this, "I'm telling him reality, as I have been this whole time. As usual he's not going to listen to me. He likes to think of his sunny times and hopes that everything will be perfect and wonderful-"

"Michael!" Luke hisses. Ashton bitterly eyes his oldest brother.

"But things aren't like that Ashton!" Michael is quick to remind him, "Things aren't all bright and cheery all the time! It's not how it's supposed to be, that's why Mother created the seasons. Because sometimes, it's not perfect Ashton! You can wish and hope and dream that everything will turn out perfect but doesn't sometimes!"

"Hush!" Luke squeezes Ashton's hand and frowns at Michael, "Go away! You're hurting him!"

Michael grits his teeth and mutters, "I'm trying to save him from more pain," before leaving Ashton's dome swiftly.

Ashton slumps, his eyes dropping and his body is a deadweight against Luke, "I'm so tired."

"It's alright Ashton," Luke tells him. Luke kneels beside Ashton's cloud-bed and tuck Ashton under the billowy sheets, "Go to sleep, everything will be alright."

Ashton just hopes Luke's right. He really does.

September 9th

It feels good to be back in the familiar city of Sheffield.

Ashton's missed weeks with Sophie. He woke up every day, eager to go see her. But when he tried to stand up, he still felt so dizzy and frail. Ashton would sigh, plop back down on bed and doze off. It got so bad that even Mother came in to check on him several times. She kept saying he looked pale, and his eyes were puffy and she demanded answers. Ashton merely shrugged and played coy, saying that it was probably because the weather was changing. Mother bought it, and even said that going back to Earth might help him.

So the first day when Ashton doesn't feel as tired as has, he goes back to Sophie.

"You look like shit," is how Hannah greets Ashton when he walks in. Ashton stops at this and frowns at her words. What exactly is shit and what does it look like? He assume it can't be good considering how harshly Hannah said it to him.

"Uh," Ashton responds, his voice still hoarse. At that, Hannah's eyes bug out and she looks incredibly guilty.

"Oh no-Ashton have you been sick all this time?" she asks him.

Sick: human lingo for not feeling well. Ashton knows this word at least.

Ashton decides to play along, "Yeah, um. Sorry I didn't tell anyone. I just felt really sick, but now I'm better." He smiles weakly at her.

Hannah hums, "You poor thing. Miss Pashley will be so happy to see you." Ashton flushes madly at that, "She's been so worried about you."

"Really?" Ashton ponders. Hannah smirks and reaches down in her desk.

 _"_ _ _Miss Pashley? There's someone out here to see you,"__ Hannah speaks loudly. She smiles back at Ashton, "She's been in a sour mood ever since your boat trip because you never reached out to her."

Ashton feels guilt settle in his chest. But then Sophie walks out and sees Ashton and there's a surprised, slow smile that draws up on Sophie's lips for a split second before her face drops.

"Hey Sophie," Ashton greets her unsurely. Sophie walks up to him and cups his cheek, her face full of worry.

"You look so tired," she pulls Ashton in for a tight hug and mumbles into Ashton's chest, "Are you okay, Sunny?"

Ashton sighs into Sophie's embrace, "I've been sick," he tells her, making Sophie coo.

"Sunny, why didn't you tell me? I would've taken care of you."

Ashton blushes madly, "I didn't want you to worry."

"Ashton," Sophie says in a scolding tone, "I was already worrying about you! You should've let me known you weren't feeling well."

"I'm sorry," Ashton mumbles weakly. Sophie smiles softly and kisses Ashton gently.

"I missed you so much," Sophie confesses. Ashton's heart patters in his chest.

"I missed you too," he kisses Sophie sweetly on her cheek and reminds her, "I love you."

Sophie grins brightly at that, "I love you too, Sunny."

"Ugh," Hannah groans loudly as she moves towards the door, "On that, I'm off to lunch! It was lovely to see you again, Ashton."

Ashton grins, "You too."

Hannah chuckles and nudges Sophie's shoulder, "Make you sure tell him!" Ashton frowns at that remark and watches Hannah leave. Sophie has a sheepish grin on her lips.

"Tell me what?" Ashton questions. Sophie just takes hold of Ashton's hand.

"I'll tell you later," he promises, "Come on, lets go in my office."

Sophie's office is full of black furniture, a deep cherry red desk, and huge windows at the back wall that shows the whole city of Sheffield. Ashton sits on a chair behind the desk and Sophie cuddles up to him on his lap.

"I've missed you," Sophie mumbles into Ashton's lips. She kisses Ashton deeply and Ashton can feel it deep within him. Sophie's hands firmly dig into Ashton's shoulders and it feels-Mother's stars, it feels so good, so beyond anything Ashton can understand. When Sophie pulls back, she rests her head against Ashton's and sighs deeply.

"I was so afraid," Sophie admits.

Ashton tilts his head, "Why?" Sophie links their hands together between them. Ashton notices Sophie has a tiny cut on her left hand at the base of the second finger. Ashton leans down and kisses it tenderly, swiftly. It makes Sophie scoff fondly and cups Ashton's face with her free hand.

"I thought you were mad at me."

Ashton flinches at the idea, "What?"

"It's just-you were so distant after that storm came on our trip," Sophie reasons with a slight shrug, "And I figured it was because you were mad at me." Something unsettling spreads over Ashton's chest.

"Sophie-"

"I'm so sorry," Sophie earnestly says, "I-I should've kept an eye on the weather. It's my fault."

"No it's not," Ashton insists but doesn't looks convinced, "It's not!" Ashton says firmly.

It's my fault, Ashton wants to tell Sophie. Instead, Ashton kisses Sophie's cheek.

"I love you Ashton," Sophie tells him again, "I know we haven't known each other for long, but I love you, so much. And the thought that I lost you-" Sophie gulps thickly, her eyes widening like a doe's.

Ashton's eyes widen too.

"I'm yours," Ashton tells her. He brings Sophie's hand to his lips and he kisses that same line on Sophie's hand. He cutely looks up at Sophie, "I'm your sunshine."

Sophie chuckles lightly, her eyes shining up to Ashton, "Yes you are." That makes Ashton's heart flutter like birds wings.

"Now tell me whatever Hannah told you to tell me," Ashton commands lightly. Sophie smirks.

"I've been named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Sheffield Chronical."

Ashton's not sure what that means or how this is a good thing. What's the Sheffield Chronical? What's a Chronical in general? Ashton's unsure of it all but he smiles for Sophie's sake.

"You have?" Ashton replies, playing up his excitement.

Sophie grins timidly, "They say my company is doing a lot of good for the city, which-I dunno if I think that's true. It's been a really prosperous year and it's so amazing that the paper is honoring me with an award."

"How wonderful!" Ashton beams, though he doesn't have a clue what's going on, "I'm so proud for you." Sophie's smile keeps getting larger and it makes Ashton happy.

"I hoped you would be," Sophie says sheepishly, "There's this event, a dinner plus an award ceremony for local businesses. They only do it once a year so of course they make it into this big thing but," She brushes her thumb along the inside of Ashton's elbow, "I want you to come with me as my date."

Ashton blushes, "You do?" Sophie laughs.

"Of course! Hannah even says she's found the perfect suit for you to wear. I have to take her word for it, because she refuses to let me see it. But I trust her," Sophie leans up and whispers in Ashton's ear, "I want to show you off-show the whole city how handsome you are."

Ashton squirms so hard he nearly pushes Sophie off his lap.

"Are you alright?" Sophie asks, her hands keeping Ashton in place. Ashton nods, feeling flustered.

"I'm fine!" He insists quickly and then adds with a smile, "And yes, I'd love to come!"

Sophie bites a bit of her lip as she smiles, "Great! It's on the twenty-first at eight. I can't pick you up because I need to go to…"

The ringing in Ashton's ears draws out Sophie's voice.

September 21st; the first day of autumn.

At 10: 48 pm on September 21st, it'll be autumn. Summer will be officially over and Ashton's time on will be done. Ashton knows this; he's had this dreaded date and time in the forefront of his mind since halfway through July. Ashton's known that his time with Sophie is limited but he always seemed so far away, until now that is.

"Ashton?" Sophie's voice snaps Ashton out of his worried haze, "Are you alright Sunny?"

"Y-Yes," Ashton says weakly, "I was um-just thinking about how…excited I am to come and support you."

Sophie leans up and hugs Ashton tightly, "Oh Ashton! You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!"

Ashton looks at his reflection in the window. He sees the bags under his eyes. He sees how drained he looks but he can't dwell on that. He can't dwell on the fact that he'll be on Earth for the very last day of summer and how that can drain him even more.

Ashton has to persevere for Sophie, he just has to.

September 16th

The tall tale signs of autumn's arrival are clear as sunshine in July to Ashton.

The leaves, the normally lush green leaves, have small patches of red and yellow near the tops of the trees. The sun stays on Earth for a shorter amount of time, making the days melt away faster then before. The worst though is when Ashton sees flowers wilting and dying around him, because their time is coming up too.

"Let's go back to my place," Sophie proposes. Watson is many paces ahead of them, and Sophie's hand is curled firmly on his leash.

(Ashton still and never will understand why some animals are kept on strings when they should roam free).

Ashton's about to dispute Sophie's request, saying that the sun is lovely and the sky is crisp and blue.

But then Sophie remarks, "It's getting kinda cold."

The words strike fear into Ashton's chest. And yes, he's noticed that the sun's intensity hasn't been has strong has it has earlier on in the summer. But Ashton still feels the summer heat pulsing inside him…but that too is not as strong as it used to feel before, when summer was at its peak.

Ashton does his best to ignore these unsettling realizations.

"Alright," Ashton mumbles weakly. He takes hold of Sophie's hand and heads back to his place. He's tired, very tired and should go back home but he doesn't want to, not quite yet. He can hold on for a bit longer, for Sophie's sake.

The magnolia tree that sits outside Sophie's home was once large and blooming with gorgeous magnolia flowers. Now however, the branches are drooping slightly. And the flowers are drained of their color, with the petals having a dusty brown hue to the tips.

There has to be a bit of summer left on Earth! There just has to be.

Ashton walks up to the tree as Sophie takes a phone call from work. He touches a magnolia flower that's low on a branch. At just his touch, the flower revives a little bit. For a moment, the dullness of the flower reverts back to a lovely white magnolia flower. It's enough to brim Ashton full of hope. But then the flower rapidly shrinks back into it's decaying state and Ashton's hopes for a bit more summer on Earth depletes just as quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

September 21st

Ashton knows he shouldn't.

Ashton knows that fall is approaching in just a few hours. Soon he'll have to pass the torch to Calum and let Autumn's reign take over the Earth.

Soon, at exactly 10:48 pm, Summer will be officially over and Fall will begin.

Ashton's time with Sophie is now down to moments, incredibly fleeting moments.

"You can't go," Michael tells him. It certainly doesn't help that Michael and Luke are there to talk Ashton out of this. He shouldn't have told Luke about this, because naturally, he told Michael about it. Ashton slicks back his long hair and paces through the clouds as he thinks about Sophie.

"She's getting an award, Michael," Ashton says, "Awards are a big deal for humans, I guess. She's worked hard for this and this is good for her and I need to be there."

Luke shakes his head, "B-But Fall's gonna start soon. The Earth isn't hot anymore and if you go there now, you'll get drained and-"

"I love her," Ashton confesses.

"You don't," Michael insists for the millionth time but Ashton nods determinedly.

"I do though. I love her so much."

"You can't love something you barely know Ashton!"

"I know Sophie and I love her and that's final!" He lets out a sob and Luke rushes to his side.

"Ashton, brother. I'm sure you care a lot for Sophie-"

"What's going to happen when you can't see Sophie anymore, hm?" Michael says sternly, cutting off Luke. He then scoffs bitterly, "Do you honestly think she's going to wait for you? There are billions and billions of human on Earth and you think that there's not one out that Sophie will use to replace you?"

Ashton hiccups, horrified at the thought, and pleas, "S-Stop!"

Michael shakes his head, "She's going to forget you Ashton. She's gonna find someone else and move on. I'm sorry but it's the truth. Summer doesn't last forever!"

Ashton starts sobbing uncontrollably and Luke tries to comfort him to no avail. It can't be true, can it? Sophie loves him. Sophie's told Ashton this a bunch of times. Sophie wouldn't hurt anyone and Michael doesn't know Sophie so why is he saying just awful things about Sophie?

"Michael," Luke hisses as he rubs Ashton's back, "You're being a menace!"

"I'm being truthful," Michael retorts. He stares at Ashton, "I should've put an end to this the first day I had my suspicions. Mother wouldn't have let you see gone to Sophie again and you wouldn't be hurting."

Ashton struggles to breathe. He keeps thinking about Sophie and how she won't know. Ashton should've told her who he was and that their time was limited but Ashton couldn't-he just couldn't. Sophie needs to know.

"Well you being mean to Ashton is not helping him!" Luke angrily states.

Michael throws his hands up, "I'm the only one trying to help him! I've been trying to help him since day one! I told him seeing Sophie was a horrible idea and it would hurt him! I'm not the one being selfish here-Ashton's being acting like a childish sprouting and I'm sick of it!"

 _ _Sophie would wait for Ashton, wouldn't he? Surely he would__. Ashton hates that he's debating this so much.

"And of course you're taking Ashton's side!" Michael spits at Luke.

Luke gasps in horror, "And what does that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just that you two have each other's backs and can do no wrong apparently. I'm just the cruel older brother that pops your happy, warm dreams. But you coddling Ashton isn't going to help him, Luke!"

"You're being mean," Luke says weakly. Michael groans in frustration.

"It's 'cus I have to! It's because I'm the only one who knows humans and what they're capable of and I was trying to save Ashton from that!"

"How do you know that humans are as awful as you say they are?"

Ashton thinks numbly in a moment of clarity, that Sophie would wait for him. He's sure of it. Sophie loves him and Ashton loves Sophie. Ashton will wait for summer to be with Sophie again and he's sure that Sophie will do the same thing. Ashton's positive of this, but he still just needs to ask Sophie to be sure.

He just has to go to Sophie and ask her, quickly.

Ashton breaks out of Luke's arms. Luke stumbles back towards Michael and gasps in horror. Ashton looks at Michael as he crosses his arms over his chest and thinks of summer thoughts.

"Ashton! Don't-" Michael tries to reach for his brother but it's too late.

A second later, Ashton finds himself on a nearly heatless Earth in his apartment. It takes the wind out him, just how much summer has changed. It barely feels like summer to him anymore, and that terrifies Ashton.

Ashton looks at the time and sees it's nearing eight and Sophie is slated to get her award at nine. Ashton hurries to find the fancy suit Hannah got for him-and he realizes he won't see Hannah or Watson either once summer's over…Ashton holds back tears as he steps into the dress.

It's a lovely suit, Ashton think. The black material of the suit contrasts well with the plain white of his shirt and patent black shoes. He wants to run and dance in the meadow with Sophie wearing a beautiful flowing dress.

Ashton knows he doesn't have the time to do that. But Ashton thinks maybe they can do that next summer.

Maybe.

Ashton sighs at his reflection and makes the exhausted sensation he's experiencing go away. He crosses his arms over his chest and thinks of the fleeting summer thoughts and Sophie as well.

He transports to a building, and Ashton hopes it's the right one that the ceremony is being held at. Ashton picks the bottom of his dress up and walks up the stairs. He feels faint by the time he gets to the top and he holds onto the door before opening it.

Ashton follows the noise of people talking until it brings him to a large room. There are lots of people there, but right away he finds Sophie. Ashton smiles sadly as he watches Sophie laugh heartily at something someone says. Ashton's not sure when he'll ever see Sophie laugh again.

"Hey!" Sophie greets Ashton excitedly with a hug and a small kiss on Ashton's cheek, "you made it!"

Ashton smiles, "Of course I did, Sophie! I wouldn't miss this for the world." Sophie has a proud smile on her face at Ashton's words.

"I love your suit," Sophie mumbles into Ashton's chest before she kisses him, "I love you."

Ashton gulps down the tears welling up inside him, "I love you too."

Ashton sits down, rejects the food placed in front of him on the table, and hangs onto everything Sophie does. Sophie's smile is a little brighter then he's ever seen and her laugh is higher and lovelier. Tonight, Sophie looks like he has a piece of the sun in her and not Ashton.

Ashton thinks that's the way it should always be.

Sophie gets her award after nine o'clock. Ashton stands on his weak limbs when Sophie's called up to the front of the room. He kisses Sophie's cheek and sends her off to get her award and Ashton still doesn't get why it's such a big deal for humans to get accolades but Ashton's happy that Sophie's the one receiving it.

Sophie talks about how thankful she is for the people she works with, and even lists off Hannah's name amongst a bunch of people Ashton doesn't know. Sophie thanks her family and her friends and for the Sheffield Chronical for giving her this award.

"I'd like to thank one more person," Sophie locks eyes with Ashton and a blush spreads over Ashton's cheeks, "At the beginning of summer, I met an incredible man. A man that betters me, supports me, encourages me and for some incredible reason, he loves me too," people chuckle all around Ashton but all he can focus on is Sophie staring fondly at him. Sophie beams at him and it's like having the sun in Ashton's eyes, "Ashton, my sunshine, thank you for giving me a summer I'll never forget and for being here tonight. I love you."

Ashton's eyes well up and he gets on his shaky legs to applaud Sophie with the rest of the room.

Sophie comes back to the table, all smiley and gorgeous, and hugs Ashton tightly.

"I'm so proud of you," Ashton tells her softly. Sophie smirks against his cheek.

Ashton wants to whisk Sophie away and tell her everything but other men and women come up to her to congratulate her. Ashton stands by her side and smiles at everyone who comes up to Sophie and patiently waits for the people to stop coming up. Ashton laughs with Sophie's investors (even though he isn't sure what an investor is) but Sophie's happy to see them there so Ashton's happy too.

It's almost ten now and Ashton starts to panic.

"Soph? I need to talk to you," Ashton tells her and he goes to drag Sophie for the doors. But Sophie instead drags him to the dancefloor.

"I wanna dance with you, sunny!" Sophie tells him excitedly and Ashton bites his tongue and allows Sophie to drag him to the center of the room.

Sophie holds Ashton close to her body and the two sway to the music playing. Sophie smells good, strong and a bit fruity. Ashton loves the smell; he loves how the scent tickles his nose in a different way then when he smells flowers.

"You looking ravishing tonight," Sophie tells him fondly and leans in to whisper, "Very handsome, my sun." Ashton giggles.

"You said that already."

"Well you do," Sophie insists, "And you're wearing the necklace I got you."

"Of course I am," Ashton beams softly, "You bought it me."

Sophie's still frowning as they sway to a song Ashton doesn't know. But the song is slow and sweet and beautiful and Ashton likes it.

"Are you sure it's not too small?" Sophie asks about the pendant and Ashton scoffs at her.

"Sophie I said it's perfect." Sophie grins and brings Ashton's hand to her lips. A bit of much needed warmth from Sophie's lips surges throughout Ashton's body, leaving his spine tingling and his face flushed.

"Well if you say it is then it must be so," Ashton nods, pleased with this answer. Sophie connects her soft gaze with Ashton's as they sway. Ashton tightens his hold on Sophie slightly, the room is beginning to feel as if it's moving faster then they are.

Sophie speaks up once more, "I go back to London every year for Christmas," Sophie says. Ashton's never heard of what a Christmas is or what people do exactly regarding that but he's intrigued.

"Oh?" Sophie nods.

"Winter time in London is beautiful," Sophie muses and Ashton's stomach stops at the mention of Winter. It feels so unnatural to Ashton to experience any season other then summer. And he wishes that Sophie would only talk about summer and not fall. But he can't speak his wishes, and just nods politely.

"My whole family goes back to London for Christmas and," Sophie smiles widely, "And I'd like you to come with me, Ashton."

"What?" Ashton stutters as he starts panicking.

"I know it's a couple of months away and I know there's pressure with meeting the family and all but," Sophie grins, "I see myself being with you, Ashton. And my mom wants to meet you too."

All Ashton hears is the fact that this Christmas is a couple of months away. That means that it's in December and Ashton only knows the world between the end of June and the end of September.

Sophie's planning a future for the two of them, one that Ashton can't be a part of.

Ashton's knees buckle and he sinks; Sophie catches him.

"Ashton?" Sophie says urgently, "Are you alright?"

And Ashton knows he needs to tell Sophie, now.

"I need fresh air," Ashton tells her, "Can you come with me?"

"Of course," Sophie agrees, a frown of worry still etched on her face.

There's a faint trace of humidity in the air when Ashton steps out of the building. He's thankful for it and greedily breathes in the hot, damp air. The music is distant but still sounds lovely. Sophie holds his hand and kisses his cheek and it comforts him, but also hurts him more. Will that be the last time Sophie will kiss him?

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up meeting my family so soon," Sophie rambles and Ashton scoffs because Sophie knows so little, "I didn't mean to freak you out-"

"Sophie?" Ashton speaks up, his voice sounding far off, "Do you believe in Mother Nature?"

The question seems to throw Sophie off, "What?"

"Do you believe that a woman with a powerful force is up there somewhere, managing over the seasons, animals and the plants?"

Ashton watches Sophie shrug, "I dunno, I guess? Ashton, what are you going on about?" And Ashton doesn't want to continue on. He much rather shake his head and tell Sophie to forget about it. But he can't, because summer is dwindling down to final moments and Ashton needs to know that regardless of the seasons, Sophie will wait for him. Ashton will come back next summer and Sophie will be there waiting for him. He needs to know if this fantasy can be real and then he can wait nine months for his season.

So Ashton swallows thickly and goes on, "What if, I were to say that Mother Earth longed for sons to share her responsibilities with? So she took elements from nature and used her own powers to make four sons, one for each season. Mother Earth raised each son to eventually take over the seasons for her."

Sophie stares at him before shrugging, "I dunno, people believe stranger things. I guess that can be true."

Ashton sighs tirelessly and shakes his head, "I know it's real, Sophie. It's not something I believe in because it's something I know to be true."

"Okay, okay," Sophie says defensively, "Whatever you say, Ashton. Can we go back inside now?"

"No!" Ashton yells weakly and walks out of Sophie's hold. He takes one step down the stairs, then another before he turns around. He looks at Sophie's confused eyes and confesses.

"I'm Summer, Sophie."

Sophie blinks at him, before a surprised laugh escapes her, "You're what?"

"I'm Summer, youngest son to Mother Nature," Ashton tries to explain, "I call the sun to radiate this Earth during the hottest months. I make sure the plants thrive and the crops grow and-"

"No, no, no," Sophie babbles on. He backs away from Ashton and it feels like all the air is sucked out of Ashton. It hurts him so much, way more then he could've imagined, "You aren't-you can't, just." Ashton blinks back tears and goes on.

"My mother is Mother Earth, creator of the Earth and all its creatures-"

"No-"

"My oldest brother is Michael, watcher of winter. He commands every snowflake in every winter storm. My other brother Calum manages the autumn months and changes the leaves from green to red and orange and yellow-"

Sophie shakes her head, "That doesn't-none of this make sense!"

"My favorite brother is Luke," Ashton's lips quiver because Sophie's doesn't believe him. He's finally telling Sophie the truth and Sophie won't believe him, "He warms the Earth back up in Spring and plants the most gorgeous flowers. And I am Mother Earth's youngest son and I watch over the summer season-"

"Stop it Ashton!" Sophie demands angrily, "It's not funny! Stop lying!"

"I'm not lying, Sophie!" Ashton insists, tears flooding his face, "I am Mother Earth's son. I'm made from her powers and from a ray from the Sun."

Sophie shakes his head, his eyes widened, "No-you, but you feel so real." A tiny sob escapes Ashton. Maybe Sophie's starting to believe him.

"I am real," Ashton insists brokenly, "I'm real, please believe me."

Sophie pauses before shaking her head once more, crushing Ashton, "N-No! This can't there's no such thing. You're not a season, Ashton!"

"I am!" Ashton shouts and his mind scrambles for explanations, "Look-the second day we met! You said Watson is horrible to other people yeah?" Sophie's eyes scan over him before she nods unsurely, "Well, that's because animals know Mother Earth and her sons. They know they can trust us and we won't hurt them."

Sophie still looks at him like he's crazy, like Ashton's making all this up. So Ashton goes on.

"That day when I went shopping and Andy said those bad things about me? I was hurt and I ran outside and it was raining-that was because I was upset, Sophie! I didn't plan for it to rain that day!"

"Ashton-"

"No," Ashton yells and continues, "When you…you complimented my outfit, remember that?" Sophie nods slowly and a faint smile laces onto Ashton's lips, "Remember it stopped raining instantly, and all those flowers popped up from the ground out of nowhere? That was because you made me happy, Sophie. Weather and plants around me react to me depending on how I feel."

"Those are just coincidences," Sophie mumbles stubbornly. Ashton closes his eyes and deflates. The winds start to pick up around Ashton and it starts drizzling.

"When we were on your boat and that storm came," Ashton says, "I forgot I planned for storms to come-"

"If you're summer-" Sophie cuts him off, "Y-You love the sun and the heat. You wouldn't let it rain, i-it'd be sunny all the time."

Ashton sighs, "Sophie, the Earth needs rain. I know this and so do you. I can't be selfish and just let everyday be sunny, it's not fair to the plants or the animals or for you and the other humans."

That seems to shut Sophie up for a bit so Ashton goes on.

"Anyway, back to the storm. It was bad, Sophie-like strong winds and heavy rains and we were so scared. I went out on the deck, remember? And then the storm had suddenly stopped, remember? I did that, Sophie."

Sophie blinks at him before he says, "You honestly think I would believe that you stopped and entire storm Ashton? With your magical powers?" And her tone is challenging and Ashton doesn't like that. So the light drizzle turns into heavier rain drops that whip around them quickly.

"I didn't stop it- _ _I moved__ it away," Sophie scoffs and shakes her head.

"This isn't real," she says to herself, "this is not real. You're lying to me." Ashton sighs and tries once more.

"You always say I smell like sunshine, Sophie. You always say I feel warm to the touch even when the weather started changing. When we went to the meadow and the butterflies stayed close to me-that was because they knew who I am. When we went sailing on your boat, dolphins followed us. When we were in the ocean the fish were right below us because of me, Sophie. You got me this necklace," Ashton stops to wrap his hand around the beautiful pendent of the sun, "you got me this because you say I'm your sunshine. You call me sunny and told me you do it because it feels right.

"Don't you get it?" Ashton begs, "I'm not lying to you! I am summer."

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner, Ashton?" Sophie barks back, "We spent an entire summer together and you never-you didn't even hint at it."

Tears sting Ashton's eyes, "I love you Sophie. I-I always did and I just couldn't tell you before but now-" Ashton whimpers, "I-I can't stay."

"What?" Sophie asks softly, her whole exterior changing.

Ashton takes in a shaky breath, "I can only be on Earth during summer when it's my season. F-Fall's almost here and I can't stay for much longer."

Sophie shakes her head, "W-What'll happen to you?"

"What happens to summer happens to me," Ashton explains somberly, "I go away when fall arrives, and will come back when spring ends."

"No-you're not," Sophie stutters, eyes wide with horror, "you can't-."

Ashton feels the warmth in his body deplete rapidly and he stumbles towards Sophie, "Promise me you'll wait for me, Sophie," Ashton begs. "I-I can't stay here when it's not summer and I. I love you so much and I-I know you love me so please, just wait for me, please?"

Sophie stares at him, shocked and panicked. But Ashton doesn't have time for this.

"Please Sophie!" he sobs desperately, "promise me-"

And suddenly, there's no hint of warmth around him. Suddenly, the winds changes and it-it's something Ashton's never felt before. Before it felt so naturally for Ashton to be on Earth and in an instant it doesn't anymore. Suddenly, it feels __wrong__ to be here on Earth. It feels so wrong.

Ashton stumbles back and gasps for air, his hands clawing at his chest, "No, no, no."

"Ashton," Sophie reaches out for him, but Ashton steps back once more. Something's happening to him, something that feels so unnatural to Ashton that he can't even describe it. Ashton heaves for breath and looks up at the sky.

"P-Please," Ashton begs, his body trembling. He shakes his head and pleas, "Please not yet. Not now. I-I need more time. I-"

Sophie grabs him and holds him up because Ashton feels himself draining too quickly, "Ashton, talk to me. What's going on?"

"I-I-" Ashton gasps before collapsing in Sophie's arms.

"Ashton?" Sophie taps at his cheek, "Ashton?"

Ashton doesn't wake up and a horrified sob leaves Sophie's lips. She sinks to the ground, holding Ashton's dead weight in her arms.

"Ashton? No, you-what's wrong, Ashton? Tell me what's wrong and I'll fix it okay?" Sophie kisses Ashton's scalp, her tears falling on Ashton's skin. She rocks Ashton's body, "Tell me what I need to do."

"Let him go."

Sophie lifts his head up and notices a man with olive skin and dark features staring down at them. Sophie's hold onto Ashton tighter.

"W-Who are you?"

The man groans in frustration, "Ashton doesn't have time to waste! I can fix him and make him better but you need to let go of him, now."

Sophie shakes her head, "I-I'm not leaving him-"

"You're killing him!" the man says and Sophie flinches, "You're killing him by being selfish and keeping him here when he can't be here anymore. You need to let me take him. Trust me, me and my family will save him."

Sophie sniffles and looks at Ashton's lifeless body. He looks so, so pale and there's now warmth left in him. So Sophie sighs and kisses Ashton's lips softly.

"I love y-you Ashton," Sophie rasps, "c-come back to me, please."

The other man kneels down and Sophie lets him take Ashton. Ashton's beautiful suit drapes over him as the man picks him up like a bride. His hand hangs like a limp branch in fall. Ashton has so much life in him normally and seeing her beloved Ashton like this kills Sophie.

"W-What's wrong with him?" Sophie asks, tears falling fully down her cheeks.

The man turns to her with a sad expression and mutters, "Its autumn."

Then the man holding her Ashton disappears.

Ashton comes back roaring like a storm in the heat of summer. He opens his eyes and heaves. He frowns slightly and panics when he sees Calum and notices it his arms holding onto him.

"C-Calum?" he stutters, his body still shaking. Calum looks terrified before he looks up.

"He's was down there for almost three minutes after it change over to autumn," Calum tells someone, "I-I dunno what to do." Ashton weakly looks over and sees his mother and two other brothers coming over to him.

"Oh my stars," Mother Earth gasps. She leans over Ashton's head and pets his cheek with her hands, "What were you thinking dear?"

"I-I-Sophie-" he rasps weakly. His mother's face turns to stone and she strokes his hair.

Mother Earth asks softly, "How are you feeling Ashton?"

Ashton shakes his head, "I don't-I. I-I don't feel like, all my h-heat is gone and I f-feel somethin' but I don't know w-what it is."

Michael obverse his brother trembling and a horrible realization pops in his head. He examines Ashton's pale skin and sees tiny raised bumps on his flesh.

"You're cold, Ashton," Michael tells him, "you're cold."

Ashton shivers at the word before he blacks out again.

Of course his last thoughts were of Sophie.

October 16th

Ashton awakes slowly, painfully slowly.

He's greeted to the normally splendid hot mugginess of his dome. But when Ashton remembers all that happened, he grows incredibly sad and starts to cry. He expects his dome to rain all around him to reflect his mood but it doesn't. It remains perfectly sunny and warm, much to Ashton's annoyance.

"Mother is using her powers," Ashton opens his eyes and turns over in his cloud bed.

Michael's sitting high in his tree in the shade. Ashton pouts up at him but doesn't say a word to him. Michael's a traitor and said very hurtful things to him.

Michael sighs and adds on, "You've been asleep for nearly a month, by the way. Your mood was so bad that it kept raining all the time. You needed warmth and sunshine to make you strong again, so mom put some sort of charm on your dome to make it hot and sunny all the time, until you're well again," Michael shrugs, "And your aura is coming back too, you're glowing yellow so it must be working."

Ashton folds his arms over his chest and pouts. Michael rolls his eyes at his brother.

"Oh come on, you're really still mad at me?" Michael pesters him some more. Ashton sighs loudly.

"You got Calum involved?" he scoffs bitterly, "He's going to make fun of me for falling for a human." And just even the slight mention of Sophie makes Ashton's heart ache. And his dome can't even reflect his saddened state. What an awful scenario.

Michael throws his hands in the air, "What was I supposed to do?! Sit back and watch you drain out of existence?" Michael hops down from the tree and stands in front of Ashton's cloud bed, "I couldn't let that happen to you."

"I was fine," Ashton spits out, "I had everything under control."

Michael makes a pointed look, "Really? Was part of your plan to beg Mother Earth for more time instead of transporting back home?"

Ashton curls his lips into his mouth in response, not really knowing what to say to that.

"I got Calum because he was the only one that could save you. Mother would have killed you herself if she realized what you had done. And you begging for more time for your season was what got Mother's attention, so in a way you told her yourself. And Calum was counting down the seconds until Fall started for him to go and get you. He was scared out of his mind, we all were. So you don't have to right to be mad at me, not after everything you put us through."

Michael right, of course he is, and that only makes Ashton more upset so he won't tell him he's right.

Michael rolls his eyes and reaches in his bagging pant pocket, "You're welcome."

Ashton glares at him before Michael hands him over the thing in his pocket and his face softens in shock.

It's Ashton's necklace and Ashton glares at his brother.

"You stole my necklace?" he huffs, "give it back!"

"I only took it so Mother wouldn't find out," Michael rolls his eyes and tosses the piece of jewelry to Ashton, "She would've dropped it back to Earth from here and it would've probably landed in one of the oceans. I knew if you figured out how to keep it here, it must be important to you. So I took it before she noticed it and I've been keeping it for you."

Ashton blinks at him before he looks down to his necklace. His lips wobble at the sight of it and he presses it to his lips and then to his chest.

"T-Thank you, Mikey," Ashton whispers. Michael waves him off.

"Yeah whatever."

And Michael's gone soon enough, which Ashton appreciates greatly because as soon as he's out of his dome, Ashton starts crying again. He clings onto his necklace and thinks about the beautiful summer he had with Sophie and how he probably won't have many more moments with Sophie ever again. And that realization only destroys Ashton and makes him sob harder into his cloud pillow.

His dome should be storming with heavy rain drops pounding on him but instead it's gloriously sunny and hot.

For the first time every, Ashton hates summer.

November 12th

Ashton knows of the Vision Cloud but has never used it before.

The Vision Cloud is a large cumulonimbus cloud at the center of their dwelling. He knows his mother used it before, so has Michael, and it seems easy enough to use. Ashton's never had the need to use it before. The Vision Cloud allows you to see any place on Earth without needing to be there to see things first hands. Mother uses it to check on animals and various vegetation states all over Earth.

Ashton's not even sure it'll work, but he has to do something.

It's been six weeks since he's seen Sophie.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Ashton jolts and looks off to the side. Of course, he thinks and rolls his eyes as Michael comes up beside him.

"Don't you have your season to plan for?" Ashton challenges. Michael scoffs.

"It can wait," Michael retorts, "Mother requested I look after you."

Ashton frowns angrily, "I'm not a baby."

"You're acting like one," Michael remarks coolly. Ashton huffs.

"I wasn't going to do anything."

"Sure you weren't," Ashton glances away and Michael sighs. He wraps his arm around Ashton, "Look Ashton. I know it seems like I'm being a menace as Luke says but I'm not. I'm just looking out for you. Do you think I like seeing you hurting like this?"

Ashton pauses before shaking his head.

"You're right, I don't. And I know that whatever you see in the Vision Cloud isn't going to make you feel better. You're just going to miss her more."

Ashton shakes his head as his fingers trace over his necklace and tears prickle his eyes, "I just-I need to see her, Michael. I-need, I need to see her."

Michael studies him and looks like he's going to argue him but instead he purses his lips and nods once stiffly. He steps aside and Ashton takes in a deep breath and steps closer to the Vision Cloud.

"Show me Sophie Pashley."

At his command, the cloud swirls and spins and a light glows and bursts. When the brightness of the light dwindles, Ashton sees his beloved Sophie in the cloud. Only she's not alone, Mother and Calum at with him.

"Why is mother there?" Ashton questions thickly, "And why is Calum there too?"

Michael doesn't reply to him with words and only shrugs at Ashton's question. So Ashton remains focused on what the Vision Cloud displays. His Sophie, his everything, is sat in his living room clinching polaroid pictures and openly weeping. Ashton's heart clinches in his chest and watches the interaction between his brother, his mother and the woman he loves more then the sun itself.

 _"_ _ _I-I don't," Sophie wheezes, "W-why are you here?"__

 _ _Calum groans and paces to his mother, '"Told you this was a waste of time," he hisses.__

 _"_ _ _This is for Ashton," Mother Earth reminds her anxious son with a stern look, "So it's not a waste of time."__

 _ _Mother Earth manages a small smile down to Sophie, "My son is not well," she informs him. Sophie looks up at her with concern.__

 _"_ _ _Ashton?" Sophie asks and the Mother nods grimly, "W-What's wrong with him?"__

 _"_ _ _He sleeps all day, and when he's not asleep he's crying," the Mother frowns, "He's-Ashton's always been my happy little boy. I never had to worry about him when he was younger. His brothers all had their sad times, but never my Ashton. I think it's because he's made from the sun's ray, he's always usually so happy and bright."__

 _ _Sophie blinks, "So, Ashton really is made from the sun?" Mother Earth chuckles.__

 _"_ _ _Just a little piece," she tells him, "but now, since being separated from you, Ashton is sad all the time. I've only heard bits and pieces about what kind of relationship you had with my son. But I need to know more about it, Sophie. I need to know so that I can figure out a way to cure our Ashton."__

Ashton's lips wobble at that. Sometimes, Ashton is all consumed in sadness. It's like its night time in his world now, with no sign of the sun anywhere. He misses the heat that only Sophie's body could bring him. Flowers don't smell as sweet anymore, not when Ashton can't smell Sophie's light scent anymore.

 _ _Sophie nods before replying, "I, we just-met. Like outta nowhere, H-Ashton bumped into me. And I dunno, I kept wanting to see him. I kept going back to that same spot for two days, hoping that I'd find him again. And we did meet up again and he was-just so amazing. I-I loved your son from the second I saw him, Miss."__

 _ _Ashton watches a sad smile draw up on his mother's face, "So my son wasn't just, what you humans call, a fling for you?"__

 _"_ _ _No," Sophie insists and tears refill her eyes. Ashton feels his own eyes well up too, "I-I was planning to do so much with your son, so-so much. I told my mom he was coming over for Christmas. I was planning a skiing trip to Aspen for January. I-Ashton used all the film for my camera and I got more for him, a whole bunch of film is in my room and I-I can't open it. I f-found an old record of Etta James and got it because I knew A-Ashton would love it. Since July, I've been making room in my closet for his things because I wanted him to move in with me.__

 _"_ _ _I-I love your son," Sophie confesses as tears fall from his eyes, "I love him so much."__

Ashton hugs himself and cries silently. He forces his eyes to remain open as much as they will.

 _ _Calum finally speaks up, "How are we going to help Ashton? He's just as gloomy as Sophie is."__

 _ _Sophie looks up to them, eyes wide and pleading, "Please let me see him." And Ashton's heart skips a beat. But Mother shakes her head.__

 _"_ _ _Absolutely not-you can't," she says somberly, "No human is allowed in our realm. And Ashton's only allowed on Earth during summer."__

 _"_ _ _Please-" Sophie begs, "T-There must be a way-"__

 _"_ _ _Ashton nearly died because he stayed on Earth a few minutes into autumn," Calum retorts, "He slept for a month to try and recover from experiencing a season he wasn't made for."__

 _"_ _ _H-He," Sophie shakes his head, "He nearly died?"__

 _ _Mother Earth nods stiffly, "He did, and when he finally woke up, you were the first thing he asked about."__

Sophie takes in this information quietly. She looks adorable as she thinks and Ashton so badly wants to hug her. He wants to touch Sophie and kiss her so badly.

 _"_ _ _Tell him I'll wait for him," Sophie says seriously and Ashton's stomach coils, "H-He asked me, that night, to wait for him and-I didn't have enough time to tell him that I'd wait for him. B-But I'll wait for him, I promise. I-If I can only have him for three months of the year," he gulps but looks at Mother Earth straight in the eyes, "That's good enough for me. Just tell him I'll wait for him."__

 _ _Mother Earth looks up and it seems that she's looking right at Ashton as she says, "I think he already knows you will."__

Sophie will wait for him. Confirmed now, Ashton knows this to be true-he just knows it deep in his soul. Maybe he can rest more easily now that Sophie's said it and Ashton's heard it and he knows it to be true.

Sophie will wait for him.

Ashton lets out a relieved breath before fainting in Michael' arms.

November 28th

Fall seems to pass by extremely slow.

Ashton doesn't like this, considering how fast summer just flew by. Why did his summer zoom by in a blaze while autumn seems so determine to survive. What's so great about autumn anyway? He wonders what autumn with Sophie would be like. Humans do certain things only in summertime, so are there activities people only do when it's fall? From the brief moments Ashton experienced of fall weather, it's much too cold to do anything, Ashton thinks.

Fall is awful.

This whole situation is awful.

But after autumn passes, Ashton only has to wait out two more seasons.

Ashton can do that, or at least he thinks he can.

He spends most of his days parked in front of the Vision Cloud and watches Sophie live his life on Earth. He watches Sophie talk on the phone or to Hannah at the office. He discovers that Sophie makes a cute little face when she's writing down notes or working hard at her desk.

He watches Sophie take Watson on evening walks and sees the trees boasting colorful leaves and how early the sun sets in autumn time. He learns that Sophie looks adorable in big, fluffy looking sweaters (Michael told him what Sophie was wearing one day was a sweater. Since then, Ashton wants to see Sophie in sweaters all the time). He sees that Sophie lets her hair grow out a little bit in the fall. He sees Sophie dancing by herself in her home with the record player on full blast during the weekends and sings beautifully when no one's around.

And it's good, seeing Sophie everyday, until it's not.

Ashton sees Sophie's hands and automatically misses them on his skin. He sees Sophie tapping on her lips when she's deep in thought and it makes Ashton long for those lips. He sees Sophie looking at all the pictures hanging in her home that Ashton took over the summer every night instead of going out. He sees Sophie becoming shelled off from the world bit by bit and heartbrokenly watches Sophie cry herself most nights with whimpered cries of 'Ashton' coming off her wet lips.

And it kills Ashton, every single time. Every single day, Ashton leaves the Vision Cloud in tears and an even larger hole in his heart. But he goes back the next day and does it all over again.

One day, Michael's standing in front of the Vision Cloud when Ashton gets there. He has his arms folded in his and his infamous stern look on his face.

"Ashton," he says in a scolding tone, "You can't keep doing this. It's only making matters worse for you."

Ashton rolls his eyes and walks pass him, "Leave me alone, Michael."

"No," Michael insists and Ashton growls.

"What's wrong with seeing Sophie everyday?"

Michael retorts, "The fact that it's only making you long for her more when you can't be there for her. This is torturous Ashton and I can't let you do this."

Ashton shakes his head and whispers helplessly, "This is all I have. This is the only way I can see her every day and spend time with her and know what's going on with her." With that confession, Michael places his hand on Ashton, leaving a cool mark to his touch.

"It'll get easier for you," Michael tells him, "but you have to trust me and stop doing this."

Ashton swats at Michael's hand and walks strides angrily away. He's tired of hearing that, tired that everything will be fine by his clueless family.

"How do you know that, Michael?!" Ashton billows, hot tears teasing his eyes, "How can you say that everything will get better?"

Michael takes a few long breaths with a stoic look to Ashton. He then turns around and faces the Vision Cloud. His back is turned to Ashton, but the summer brother hears Michael clear as day as he says:

"Show me Crystal Leigh."

Ashton frowns as the Vision Cloud swirls around until the image of a young woman appears in the cloud. Ashton thinks she's beautiful, with long brown hair and an olive toned skin. She's smiling at a another person and thanks them softly as she's handed a cup and goes to a table to sit down. Ashton walked up beside his brother and keeps his eyes on this woman named Crystal.

"I met her a few weeks into the first winter I managed without Mother," Michael says and scoffs fondly, "I was walking around New York City-you've been there, yeah?"

Michael looks over and Ashton nods slowly. Michael's grin is one of happiness with a bit of sadness mix in.

"Anyway, Crystal slipped on ice and I helped her up," Michael laughs, "she was so embarrassed and I didn't understand how humans could be so clumsy on ice. But Crystal-she was just lovely. She insisted on thanking me with coffee."

"Sophie drinks coffee," Ashton tells him with a shrug, "I've never had it before, but it smells good."

"Yeah. It's interesting for sure," Michael' smile drops a bit, "I never much cared for it myself but Crystal loves coffee. That's where she is now, in a coffee shop. I've been there before, in that coffee shop."

"You have?" Ashton asks curiously. Michael scoffs as he nods.

"Yeah…Crystal brought me there on our date."

Ashton's heart stops, "You-what?! You've been on a date with a human before?"

"Yep," Michael tells him easily, "Only one date with Crystal. After the first time I met her," Ashton watches as a fond expression wafts over Michael's face, "I dunno, I was enamored I guess. I couldn't stop thinking about her so I kept going back to New York to see her."

Ashton nods with widened eyes, "That's what it was like with me and Sophie! I couldn't stop thinking about her either." Michael grins a little at that.

"We just talked a lot and the more I got to know her, the more I grew to like Crystal. We would just walk around the city most days, holding each other's hand and talking to each other," Michael chuckles, "Crystal's quite assertive, and so one day she just blurted out why I hadn't asked her out on a date yet."

"Aw," Ashton coos and Michael rolls his eyes.

"Like you, I had no idea what a date was. Thankfully, Crystal asked me out on the date instead. She told me a time and a place and I agreed. That day I learned that Crystal loves winter, a lot. We played in the snow and made these things called snow angels. We made snowballs threw them at each other. She taught me how to ice skate and that-it feels like you're flying on ice Ashton! It's incredible!"

Ashton smiles softly and sees the way Michael' cheeks flare up.

"And later on Crystal just kissed me out of the blue."

"She kissed you?!" Ashton squeals excitedly. Michael laughs as he nods.

"Yeah, it was perfect! We were walking out of the park and it started flurrying and-" Michael bites his lip and looks awfully sheepish, "It was lovely and the snow started to pick up because of her kiss."

Ashton grins like a fool, "What happened next?!" Ashton feels a little bit happier, like himself again. Michael must notice it too because he smiles at Ashton.

"I met up with her, when I could. And we hung out," a blush clouds Michael' cheeks, "And kissed some more."

"What else happened?" Ashton asks and Michael's face falls as he turns back to the Vision Cloud. Ashton frowns as he looks over there too. Crystal's taken a sip of her drink and there's foam on her upper lip. She giggles at herself adorable and wipes it off with a napkin. Ashton looks to Michael, who has a sad smile on.

"Spring came," Michael says simply. He sighs and shrugs, "I couldn't tell her who I was, we were having too much fun. I liked pretending that I was a human for a little but, for her sake. I liked being with her and I didn't want to ruin our time together."

Ashton can relate to that. He knows he had countless opportunities to tell Sophie the truth, but he just __couldn't__. The summer was perfect, why would Ashton ruin it with the truth?

Michael goes on lowly, his eyes focused on Crystal in the Vision Cloud, "I didn't tell her anything-I just disappeared when Mother came with spring. And-it wasn't until well into summer, after missing her terribly and checking up on her in the Vision Cloud, that I realized I was in love with Crystal."

"Oh Michael," Ashton says soothingly. Michael gulps thickly.

"I stopped checking up on her because it hurt too much. But as summer ended and fall came, I was counting down the days until winter would come so I could see her again," Michael bites his lip, "When winter came, I transported as fast as I could to the park where we had our date on. I was dying to tell Crystal everything-who I am and how much I loved her," Michael scoffs bitterly at the memory.

Ashton tilts his head and asks, "What happened?"

A bell dings in the Vision Cloud and Ashton turns to the sound.

Ashton watches as Crystal beams happily and stands up from her table. She approaches the man who just came into the shop and greets him with a hug. The man kisses her in return before Crystal takes his hand and leads him to the table. The man has his arm wrapped around Crystal and he sneaks in to kiss Crystal's ear. She giggles and tries to squirm away but the man holds her steady with the sureness and confidence that looks like he's been holding onto Crystal for a long time.

Ashton's heart sinks.

"She didn't wait for me," Michael says quietly, brokenly. He takes a big breath before going on, "I mean-I can't be mad at her. Crystal didn't know and I-I didn't ask her to wait for me like you did with Sophie. I just-" he stops and sighs lowly, "It hurt a lot. I waited over half a year to see her again and to be with her and Crystal was ice skating with another man, a real man-someone she probably loved for months. It hurt a lot, realizing that all that time I spent loving her, she loved someone else."

Ashton looks back to the Vision Cloud and the scene is too painful even for him. The couple are whispering lowly and giggly and snuggling up close to each other. Michael shouldn't have to see this so Ashton moves his hand over the Vision Cloud and all images of Crystal Calder vanishes. But it's not quick enough, because Michael still looks devastated.

"I'm sorry, it's just," Michael sighs again, "I haven't seen her in quite some time. I haven't gone back to New York since then. It took a long time before I stopped thinking about her every single day. It wasn't until this past winter that it didn't hurt anymore."

Ashton's face falls as he realizes, "And then I met Sophie."

"And then you met Sophie," Michael confirms, "And I was scared out of my mind that you were going to get hurt too."

"Michael," Ashton whispers weakly. Michael turns to him and holds his brother's shoulders.

"I'm okay," he assures him, "I wanted to show you that after all that I'm okay. Crystal-" Michael gulps thickly, "She hurt me without knowing just how much she did but I'm okay now. And you will be too, Ashton. You just need time."

Ashton shakes his head, "I need Sophie."

"No you don't," Michael tells him firmly, "You're Mother Earth's son, you command the summer months. You moved an entire storm front with your powers Ashton! Don't have yourself believing you need some human to fulfil you, brother! Can't you see how powerful you are without her?"

Ashton shakes his head and stares at his brother, "Sophie makes me more powerful then I could even imagine Michael."

Michael studies his brother and steps back. Ashton watches his oldest brother stomp away, Michael's feet breaking up any small clouds that get I his way. Ashton shakes when he hears Michael slam the door to his dome.

Ashton doesn't see Michael for three days and Ashton doesn't look for Sophie in the Vision Cloud either.

December 7th

Luke feels useless.

Being a warm season along with Ashton, the two are usually thicker then rain clouds. Since they were little and discovering their powers, they always had each other's backs. Ashton was always so patient with Luke and Luke always wrangled in Ashton when he was becoming too loud and crazy. Luke and Ashton balanced each other out-they just get one another.

So seeing Ashton in such a depressed state throws Luke off a bit.

Luke works hard in his dome. He mixes the essence of a daisy with the beauty and structure of a rose-two of Ashton's favorite flowers. He spends hours a day tending to the plant and nurturing it with plenty of warm sun and a bit of water. When the first spurts appear, he's giddy with delight and knows once these unique flowers bloom, Ashton will love them.

It's not until early December that the flowers bloom to their peak. Luke plucks them from the ground and heads off to Ashton's dome.

"Ashton!" Luke busts into Ashton's dome. As usual, it's hot and sticky and very, very sunny but Luke looks past all that. He looks to his brother, lying on his cloud bed curled up on himself. Ashton doesn't react to Luke's presence but Luke doesn't care.

"Ashton! Look, I made a new flower for you!" Luke tells him happily, "It's so pretty Ashton and smells amazing and-well just look at it Ashton!"

Ashton flips over in his bed. His eyes are puffy and lifeless. His hair is matted and his nose and cheeks are red. The shinny sun dangling on Ashton's chest, which Luke thinks Sophie must have given to him, is over Ashton's heart and nesting there was if it were home.

Ashton glances down at the flower, shrugs mildly and flatly says, "Wonderful."

Luke's face drops as he watches his brother flip over to his side. He scoffs tightly, "Ashton, please look at it! It's a rose made out of daisy petals! I made it just for you!"

"I don't want it, Luke!" Ashton whines. Luke's heart sinks, making the flower he's holding in his hand wilt, "Just go. Leave me alone."

Luke, heartbroken, leaves his favorite brother and goes to find the colder brothers. Calum and Michael must be having a serious discussion in Calum's dome, as the skies within the dome look greyer then usual. The glowing auras of Michael' bright blue and Calum's deep red, where mingling together on top of the hill in Calum's dome, which is covered in dull colored leaves.

When Luke enters Calum's dome, a bitter wind hits his face. His two brothers eye him as Luke all but stomps up to them and shows them the drooping flower. The yellow petals start to flake off and Luke has an angered furrow on his brow.

"We need to do something," Luke says, his voice threatening tears, "We need to fix Ashton, fast."

Calum grimly nods, "I agree. This isn't-Ashton's acting more like me then himself."

"Don't worry brothers," Michael tells them surely. He looks over towards Ashton's dome and mumbles a firm promise, "I'll figure something out."

December 17th

"Ashton?"

Ashton winces at the sound of Mother's voice. Why must she come in every day to check on him? Why did she curse his dome to be perfectly sunny all the time when he just wants to sky in his dome to cry when he does? Why can't Mother and his brothers just leave him alone?

Mother Earth sighs, "Ashton, dear. I know you're awake. We need to talk, right now."

Ashton doesn't move an inch nor does he want to. But after a moment, Mother silently commands his cloud-bed to move towards her. Ashton doesn't protest this and when his bed stops, he sighs heavily and sits up.

Mother smiles at him kindly, her aura glowing pure white and she's wearing those flowers that Luke created in her hair, "My sweet, summer boy," she dotes on him as she sits on his bed. She pulls her youngest son into her arms and cuddles him, her warm hands stroking his hair, "I hate seeing you like this, Ashton."

Ashton's quiet before dully saying, "Sophie was my summer."

"How so dear?" Mother says, sounding surprised. Ashton relishes in the memory of his favorite human, thinking of the man's stunning smile.

"I always thought I knew what summer was. I had all these thoughts and feelings of what summer is supposed to be. I thought I knew everything about my season going into all this. You said I was prepared to manage my season on my own and I felt ready and I thought I knew everything about summer.

"But towards…the end of summer, I," Ashton frowns, "It got harder to leave Sophie. Every time I had to transport back home and I had to think of summer thoughts, images of Sophie kept popping up along with visions of the sun. It was so hard leaving her because it felt so wrong," Ashton glances down and sniffles, "And now I know why, it's because Sophie became my summer. I've never experienced a true summer like humans do because it was just always a part of me. Summer wasn't really special to me, not before Sophie. She made me feel so special Mother. I love her s-so much. I-I miss her terribly."

Ashton breaks down and weeps in his mother's arms. Mother Earth cradles him like a mother bird covers her offspring with her wings. She coos when softly at Ashton's body shaking breath and pecks the side of his head gently.

"Oh my Ashton," she murmurs, her voice thicker.

Ashton sobs out, "I can't stand t-the sun, Mother. It hurts my eyes and I-" he sniffles and curls into her lap, "I just want the sky to cry w-with me."

Within seconds, the atmosphere within the dome changes drastically. The inconvenient heat Ashton's cursed for weeks is gone. Familiar cool winds pick up around the dome and hard, tiny raindrops hit Ashton's arms. The sensation relaxes him and he profusely thanks his mother through his tears.

December 31st

Mother Earth sits regally at her throne in front of her four sons. Ashton sits on low cloud beside his brothers. For once, Ashton's not the only one who's deeply saddened. His brother Calum has been in a horrible mood since his season ended and he hadn't left his dome until now. But even thought Calum is upset, he's still looks better then Ashton.

"Ashton, my love," Mother calls to him, gaining his attention. She smiles kindly at him, "I called this meeting so that we can come up with a solution to make you happy again."

Ashton frowns and feels his brothers staring at him, primarily Michael, "I, um-"

"We can't stand to see you this way anymore, Ashton," Luke speaks out nervously, "You're not-this isn't you, Ashton. You are hurting and sad and we want to fix that."

Ashton blinks, before saying, "But only Sophie can fix that."

"We know," Ashton's surprised that it's Michael' voice who says that. The winter brother smiles softly at him before turning to Mother, "I have an idea, Mother."

Mother Earth perks up with interest, "You do Michael?" Michael nods.

"What if Calum, Luke and I give a little bit of our seasons to Ashton?" Michael proposes confidently. Ashton sits up from his cloud, his gaze shifting between his brothers.

Ashton whispers, "What?"

"Michael, love-what are you talking about?" Mother Earth asks her oldest son.

"You gave us our abilities, Mother," Michael reminds her, "That must mean we're able to give Ashton a little bit of our seasons too. He'd still only be in complete control of his season, but it'd be enough of our season so that Ashton can stay on Earth year round."

Ashton's speechless. His mind tries to grasp this idea. He's not sure if it'll even work, as it's never been done before, but Ashton can't stop the sweeping feeling of excitement taking over his body. For the first time in months, Ashton's full of the potential of hope again.

"But," Mother Earth is quick to reply, "I've catered each of your for your own seasons. I just-I'm not sure how Ashton will manage on Earth during the seasons he wasn't made for."

"We'll help him figure out our seasons, Mother," Luke says confidently. Ashton quickly gets to his feet and turns to him, stunned.

"You're in on this too?!" He asks. From the corner of his eyes, Ashton sees his autumn brother roll his eyes dramatically.

"Of course we're all in this," Calum mutters.

Ashton draws up a tiny, stunned smile, "Even you? But, you hate me."

"I don't hate you, dear brother," Calum tells him, "If I did, I would've let you drained yourself on Earth when it changed over to my season," he quickly changes his tone and adds, "Plus, like, seeing you not being annoyingly happy all the time is weird so."

Hm. Ashton supposes that's true. Perhaps Calum has a different side to him. Love blooms wildly within his chest like meadows.

"I'm just not sure," Mother Earth says, "We don't know what might happen to him. He could still get drained."

"If Ashton stays on Earth for too long, one of us will fetch him and bring him back," Michael simply says.

A thought pops in Ashton's head, "But-I can't take part of your powers from you guys. That's not fair! I can't."

"Ashton, you're not taking it from us," Luke explains gently with a tiny smile, "We're giving a little bit of our season to you."

Ashton is struck by such a kind act. He isn't surprised that Luke would something so grandiose for him because he knows Luke loves him. Calum, Ashton's slowly discovering, might actually like him? This is all still very confusing to him. A few moments ago, Ashton was moping in distant memories of Sophie and their summer. Now, there's renewed hope. Now there's a chance he can be with Sophie year round.

Michael coming up with this idea surprises him the most. He hated Sophie from the start and Ashton sees Michael's perspective and sees why he thought being with Sophie was a bad idea. He doesn't understand why Michael would do such a thing or why he would suggest it. Either way, Ashton is so incredibly happy he did.

Mother Earth looks at her youngest son with hesitance and worry, "Ashton I want you to be happy, as happy as you can be. I thought keeping you here in your element would make you be your effortlessly cheerful self again," she frowns slightly, "But I was wrong-your season isn't enough for you anymore. Summer isn't the only thing that makes you happy."

The realization stings Ashton. Six months ago, nothing gave him more pleasure then feeling the blazing heat of the sun on his skin. Mother Earth sees her summer son's sunken face and she grins kindly at him.

"But that's a good thing, that there's something else, or rather someone else, that makes you incredibly happy," she gets up from her throne and walks over to her summer son. She cups Ashton's cheek and sternly, but gently too, looks at him in the eye with a small smirk, "Now, I have no idea if any of this is going to work, but for you, it's worth a try."

Ashton's lips wobble and he wraps his arms around his mother tightly, "Thank you Mother."

"Alright, alright," Mother Earth says transitionally a moment later and breaks away from Ashton. She turns to her three other sons and instructs them, "Now, when I gave each of you your seasons, I envisioned your seasons as I passed them onto you. At first the images of your seasons were strong, but as I transmitted them to you, the pictures faded until there was just a tiny speck left. When you give a small portion of your powers to Ashton, you must be careful not to give him everything. Have control over your powers, show restraint. When I tell you to stop and back away from Ashton, you must do as I say, understood?"

Ashton stands in silent as he watches his three older brothers nod in agreement. Then all of them and Mother Earth turn to him. Mother Earth grins softly at her youngest son, "Are you ready?"

Ashton gulps as he nods. Yes, he's done this before but that was after years of Mother conditioning him only for his season, and not the other three seasons. He has no idea if this will work or what will happen but he knows there's a chance that he can see Sophie today, an actual chance. He has to do this.

Three hands touch Ashton's back. Ashton closes his eyes and-

Leaves: colorful, drifting leaves are the first thing Ashton sees. A sight that once horrified him, Ashton actually sees the beauty of them and watches in as they go with the high wind. The skies are grey and normally Ashton would call for the sun, but here it's not needed. It feels…right the way things are. Ashton has a slight chill as a gust of wind comes along his back and-

The image shifts-the falling leaves changes to slow, scattered raindrops. There's a rainbow high in the sky, with dry rainclouds passing over him. Ashton can smell the past rainfall and sees puddles in the deep green pasture front of him. The sun isn't as bright has to what Ashton is used to but the birds seem to love it and nearby rabbits rest in a patch of sun in the ground. Ashton smiles at the image and then-

The rabbits change into pouncing deer. The once lush pasture changes into a snow filled forest. The trees are black around Ashton, and bare no life to them. It's beyond cold, colder then anything Ashton's felt before. But Ashton actually likes the feeling of the bitter, near frozen air deep in his lungs. Snowflakes, fat and damp, gracefully dance all around him and Ashton smiles at the sight.

And then nothing.

Ashton opens his eyes, his chest panting and his mind rattling with images of seasons he's never truly seen before. Ashton notices his aura is still yellow, but there are tiny specks of green, purple-ish red and blue scattered all over as well. He looks over and sees his Mother and brothers eyeing him curiously.

"How was it?" Luke asks. Ashton smirks.

"Amazing!" he replies truthfully, "So, it worked right? It had to have worked."

Michael grins, "There's only one way to find out." Michael takes off towards his dome and Ashton knows what he means.

He's going to Earth during winter time.

Mother Earth again kisses Ashton's forehead, "Be safe. If you feel faint you come home right away."

Ashton nods quickly and turns to his brothers, "Thank you so much. I love you both!"

Luke happily accepts the group hug Ashton pulls them in; Calum groans loudly.

"Whatever, let me know if it works."

Michael returns shortly after Calum drags himself back to his dome. Michael looks at Ashton, "Ready?"

Ashton nods happily. Michael leads him over to the side and Ashton looks back at his mother and Luke. Both have smiles laced with a little sadness in them. Ashton understands the feeling.

"Now remember," Michael tells him, "you must think of winter thoughts okay? So snow storms and whatnot."

Ashton nods and crosses his arms over his chest. He closes his eyes and thins back to the forest full of snow. It's difficult and feels strange but he must be working because he feels himself transporting to Earth; to Sophie.

Ashton feels the bitter cold air on his cheeks. The air stings his eyes a little bit as he blinks them open. They're in a city, but it's not Sheffield, Ashton knows for sure. The sidewalks have piles of snow that billow out into the streets. Ashton breathes out and-he cans see his breath float up in the sky! Humans walk by, wearing more clothes then Ashton's used to seeing humans wear. The sun is breaking through the clouds a little bit amid the slow falling flakes of snow. The sun there looks a little out of place and Ashton suspects it's probably him affecting the winter weather.

"Are you okay?" Michael asks him, "how do you feel?"

Ashton breathes in another deep breath of crisp air and-

"Fine," Ashton says excitedly, not feeling at all faint. He turns to Michael and exclaims, "I feel great!"

Michael chuckles and reaches into his pocket, "Good, now put this on your head."

Ashton does so and feels the thick, black material of the strange hat go over his head and cover the tops of his ears. Michael pulls on a similar hat, only his is blue He glances over to Ashton and scoffs slightly.

"They're called beanies. Humans wear them in winter to help them stay warm. We're also wearing gloves," Michael shows him his hands, which have grey material on them, "and this right here," he points to the puffy material on his torso, "is called a coat. Again, to keep humans, and you probably, warm."

Ashton nods and looks around, "Where are we?"

"London," Michael tells him and then adds, "Sophie's here."

Ashton's heart races at this, "Where?"

"I dunno. We'll walk around, I'm sure we'll find her soon."

Ashton nods, excitement billowing in his chest, and the two start to walk down the half deserted street.

"Michael?" Ashton speaks up unsurely, "How, um-how did you come up with the idea for you and Luke and Calum to give me a bit of your seasons?"

Michael' smirk looks distant, "Can you keep a secret?"

Ashton nods.

"I had the idea to first do this the spring after my first winter."

Ashton fits the pieces together, "So you could come back and be with Crystal?" Michael swallows and nods stiffly, "Michael-why didn't you?! I would have given you some of my season."

"Ashton you didn't have your season yet, Mother was still in charge of summer back then," Michael reminds him. Ashton frowns.

"Oh."

Michael smiles, "I know you would have, but. I also knew that being the oldest I belonged in the Clouds. I need to be there more then I want to be here."

Ashton's frown deepens, "I hope you find Crystal again one day Michael. And I hope you can be with her like I will be with Sophie."

"Thanks Ashton," Michael says, though he doesn't sound convincing at all, "I don't think that'll happen but it's sweet of you to say that."

Ashton changes the subject, "Why did my necklace come back to the clouds with me?" Ashton asks, "I-I tried to bring up a picture of me and Sophie but it didn't work."

Michael shrugs, "I'm not so sure myself. I somehow brought up these beanies with me. They were stuffed in my pocket and I forgot about them when I transported back home. Somehow they stayed with me, even though the rest of my Earthly clothes vanished. I can't give you the answer to that."

"Did Crystal give you these beanies?" Ashton questions. A light blush dusts over Michael' cheeks and turns away.

"Let's keep looking for Sophie."

"But what-" Ashton stops himself briefly, "I haven't seen what Sophie's been up to in the Vision Cloud for a while. You were right, it was too painful and I. What if she's…moved on like you said? What if she's found someone else?"

Michael looks up and smirk curls up as he stops abruptly. Ashton frowns but stops as well.

"Something tells me she's waiting for you," Michael says surely before nodding towards North. Ashton follows his gaze and his heart nearly stops.

Sophie's there, just a few yards ahead of Ashton. He's all bundled up too and his cheeks and nose are red. He's holding onto the leash that Watson's tugging on. Because unlike Sophie, Watson sees Ashton right away and seems to smile at him. Watson takes off towards him but Ashton's wet eyes stay on Sophie. Sophie groans in frustration and runs after the large dog. Watson's tail wags wildly as he stops in front of Ashton and Sophie catches up to his dog.

It's only then, a foot in front of Ashton, that she stops and looks up.

"Ashton?" she breathes out, stunned-his eyes widened.

Ashton nods quickly, "H-Hi Sophie." Ashton jumps towards him and wraps her arms around him. He's actually touching Sophie! After months of being apart and dreaming of Sophie, Ashton's actually hugging Sophie in winter.

Sophie grips him tighter and shakes her head against Ashton's, "I-I, how? How are you-"

"I'll explain everything later," Ashton promises him as he draws back. Sophie has tears in her eyes and so does Ashton. Ashton wipes away a tear that's near Sophie's nose, "I'm here now, and it looks like I can be on Earth all year long."

"Really?"

Ashton nods, his teeth biting his cold lip, "Yeah."

Sophie kisses him softly, slowly and Ashton greedily takes in the kiss. It feels so familiar and so tender and it's everything Ashton's longed for these long cold months. Sophie pulls back only to kiss Ashton's cheek quickly three times, her hands gripping tighter on his body.

"I get to be with you, all the time? Is this real-is it?" Sophie stutters and Ashton laughs weakly.

"Yes it is," he sniffles and wipes away a tear, "My winter brother, Michael-he figured out a way for me to be on Earth year round."

Ashton turns to find his brother, but Michael isn't there. His smile drops briefly and he looks around for any trace of Michael but he sees none other then the cold sun that's peaking through the clouds. It still doesn't look like it belongs there, like it should have been grey and snowy all day, but Ashton smirks at the hazy sun.

"I've missed you so much," Sophie confesses brokenly, "I love you Ashton. God," she murmurs and takes in another deep breath, "You still smell like sunshine. It's like its still summer-it's always summer with you."

Ashton smiles deeply into the shoulder of the woman he loves dearly. He watches as snow falls around them.

And he couldn't agree more.


End file.
